Villarreal Victorious Over Beleaguered Barcelona Outfit at Camp Nou to Claim Conference League Qualification

Villarreal Victorious Over Beleaguered Barcelona Outfit at Camp Nou to Claim Conference League Qualification

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:03 PM
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  • Barcelona brought their season to an end with a defeat against Villarreal in the final La Liga Santander game
  • Villarreal easily dispatched Barcelona at the Camp Nou to secure the UEFA Europa Conference League spot
  • Unai Emery finally picked up a win against Barcelona at the Camp Nou thanks to goals from Alfonso Pedraza and Moi Gómez

Villarreal will play in the UEFA Europa Conference League next season.

The Yellow Submarines ended the La Liga Santander season in style by beating Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

Villarreal, Victorious, Beleaguered, Barcelona, Camp Nou, Conference League, Qualification, Soccer, Sport, Football, Spain, La Liga Santander, Alfonso Pedraza, Moi Gomez
Villarreal secured seventh place in La Liga with a victory over Barcelona in their final game of the La Liga Santander season. Image: @BarcaTimes/ @FCBarcelona
Source: Twitter

Villarreal finished seventh as a result of the win and claimed the last European qualifying spot.

Barca started the game much strong with Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Adama Traoré all having decent chances to put the Blaugrana in front. Much of the first half was played in Villarreal’s half as Unai Emery’s side came under constant attack from Barca.

Villarreal only got their first attempt on target in the 35th minute and broke the deadlock just five minutes later.

Alfonso Pedraza finished smartly after he was found by a lofted pass. Pedraza chested the ball down before smartly finishing past Marc-André ter Stegen.

At the halftime break, Barcelona had nine shots but only two on target. Villarreal only had two shots but both were on target.

The second half started with Barca on the front foot and they thought they had won a penalty when Ferran Torres went over in the box.

The referee pointed to the penalty spot but the Video Assistant Referee soon got involved and overturned the decision. A freekick was given instead as replays show that Torres was adjudged to have been fouled just outside the box.

It went downhill for Barcelona after that as Villarreal went two goals up. Traoré was the guilty party as his side conceded a second. The speedy winger tracked back brilliantly to intercept a dangerous pass, but his clearance lacked conviction. Traoré tried to clear the ball but miskicked it into the box, setting up Moi Gómez. Gómez blasted the ball into the back of the net to double his side’s advantage.

Barca thought that had pulled one goal back when De Jong scored after Ansu Fati’s shot was cleared off the line. Fati was just found to be offside and the goal was chalked off.

Villarreal looked much the better side for the rest of the second half as they held on to a memorable win. The victory was also Unai Emery’s first win at Camp Nou. Barcelona finished second in La Liga while Villareal’s win saw them secure seventh place.

Real Madrid set to clash with Barcelona in iconic el Classico rivalry in Las Vegas

Barcelona and Real Madrid will treat fans to the infamous el Classico rivalry as early as July 2022 in Las Vegas. The two La Liga giants will play each other at an exhibition game in what will be a warm-up for the new campaign.

A number of top European clubs are set to tour the United States in preparation for the new season, including Barcelona and Real Madrid. According to LiveSoccer, significant progress has been made to have the el Classico take place inside the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as part of the pre-season preparations.

Spanish publication AS further reports that an agreement is yet to be officially reached, although there is a huge possibility that the Allegiant Stadium will host the encounter, Sports Brief earlier reported.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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