Barcelona loses thriller with Villarreal, falls 10 points behind Real Madrid

Barcelona again showed it is not a championship-caliber team when it conceded twice in stoppage time to lose a 5-3 thriller with Villarreal in front of its stunned fans on Saturday.

In one of the wildest games of the season, Villarreal was up 2-0, then Barcelona roared back with three goals in a 12-minute span to lead 3-2 in the 72nd minute.

But Barcelona’s defense again let it down and new Villarreal arrival Goncalo Guedes leveled on a counterattack in the 84th. Striker Alexander Sorloth, who also set up two goals, then found the winner in stoppage time and José Morales added to Barcelona’s misery.

Barcelona was trying to bounce back in La Liga from its elimination from the Copa del Rey at Athletic Bilbao this week.

Real Madrid rallied to win at Las Palmas 2-1 without top scorer Jude Bellingham and reclaim the league lead. It opened up a 10-point gap over Barcelona in third.

“This is a huge blow,” Xavi said. “We lost this game because of our mistakes. Today is difficult to digest for me as a coach but also for my players, who are all feeling really bad.

“We did the hardest part, which was to turn it around, and we even had more chances to score, but that was when our problems started. We are paying a heavy price for our mistakes this season.”

Gerard Moreno opened the scoring near halftime from a pass by Sorloth. Former Barcelona youth player Ilias Akhomach took full advantage of horrible control by João Cancelo, who came on at halftime, to double the advantage.

Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back for Barcelona in the 60th. Substitute Pedri González took a second before an own goal by Eric Baily put the hosts ahead.

Barcelona then looked close to sealing it with a fourth goal before Sorloth launched Guedes on the flank to beat goalkeeper Iñaki Peña from an angle to make it 3-3. The Norway striker put Villarreal back in front after Barcelona failed to clear the ball from its area.

“If you are losing 0-2 and then go up 3-2 you cannot give it away and lose like that,” Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong said. “This cannot happen to an elite team.”

Cancelo, like De Jong, backed Xavi and tried to take the blame as players.

“It truly was a disaster,” Cancelo said. “Those were the worst 45 minutes of my career.”

Barcelona’s defense, which is missing injured goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is falling apart in January.

Barcelona was crushed by Madrid, 4-1, in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, and on Wednesday it conceded twice in extra time to lose at Bilbao, 4-2.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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