Barça overcame a two-goal deficit to take the lead, but late goals from the visitors ended the comeback
After conceding two goals deep into stoppage time, Villarreal defeated Barcelona in an eight-goal thriller that dropped Xavi’s team to 10 points below the top of La Liga.
After trailing 2-0 until the hour mark, the hosts battled back with three goals in 11 minutes to take the lead.
However, in the ninth minute of stoppage time, Alexander Sorloth gave the visitors a one-goal advantage after Villarreal had equalised with six minutes left.
After 102 minutes, Jose Luis Morales added a fifth goal to complete the victory.
After the loss, Barcelona, the reigning champions, are now in third place in the La Liga standings, eight points behind second-place Girona and ten points behind leaders Real Madrid.
It comes after Athletic Bilbao defeated them 4-2 on Wednesday to send them out of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
Barcelona has now lost three of their last five games; their other loss during that run came in the Spanish Super Cup, where they were defeated 4-1 by Real Madrid.
Ilkay Gundogan, Pedri, and an own goal by Eric Bailly helped Barcelona pull off a stunning comeback following goals from Gerard Moreno in the first half and Ilias Akhomach in the 54th minute.
However, after Villarreal’s equaliser in the 84th minute through Goncarlo Guedes, the hosts were exposed in their quest for a late winner and were ultimately punished by late goals from Sorloth and Luis Morales.
Real Madrid defeated Las Palmas 2-1 on Saturday, coming back from behind to reclaim the lead. Girona will take on struggling Celta Vigo on Sunday (13:00 GMT).
Source: BBC
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