But Marc-Andre Ter Stegen Hurt
La Liga leaders Barcelona easily defeated Villarreal 5-1 on Sunday, with to two goals apiece from Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. However, they were left worrying about goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s “huge” knee injury. Fourth-place Atletico Madrid was held to a 1-1 tie against Rayo Vallecano,
their local rivals, thanks to a goal by Conor Gallagher, the Rojiblancos’ second goal. After falling awkwardly after collecting a cross, Ter Stegen was taken out on a stretcher, marring Barcelona’s sixth league victory in six games. According to early indications, he may miss the remainder of the season.
Hansi Flick, the Barcelona coach, told DAZN.marc
Enthralling duel on Spain’s east coast at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica saw Lewandowski score Barcelona’s opening two goals and then miss a penalty.
Ayoze Perez got his club back into the game just before half-time and the previously unbeaten hosts had two goals disallowed, with Pablo Torre and Raphinha’s scores confirming Barcelona’s victory.
After second-placed Real Madrid crushed Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday the Catalans were able to reclaim a four-point advantage over the champions.
Despite Eric Garcia’s early red card in the Champions League midweek loss to Monaco, Flick granted him another start in defensive midfield.
The German coach also started playmaker Torre in place of the injured Dani Olmo, along with Gerard Martin and Sergi Dominguez from the reserve squad.
Adolescent sensation Lamine Yamal struck the crossbar in the first minute, and in the twentieth, Torre slipped Lewandowski in, and he finished.
Garcia’s header was expertly saved by Conde, but the former Bayern Munich forward scored the rebound with an incredible close-range strike.
With his sixth La Liga goal of the year, he now leads Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe by two goals in the battle for the Spanish Golden Boot.
“Special individual”
With the electrifying Nicolas Pepe setting him up, Perez gave Villarreal a lifeline. marc
Before the half, Ter Stegen produced a stunning stop to deny Pepe a one-on-one opportunity. However, the German captain of Barcelona was shortly substituted for Inaki Pena when he suffered a serious fall after catching a corner.
Marcelino Garcia Toral’s team pulled away from Barcelona as Pepe finished beautifully early in the second half, only to have his effort disallowed for a little offside ruling. Yeremy Pino also struck the crossbar with his header.
With Villarreal’s momentum, Torre’s deflected strike from the edge of the box gave Barca an even bigger lead.
After Thierno Barry of Villarreal had a goal disallowed for offside and Eric Bailly had scythed down Yamal, Lewandowski struck the post from the penalty spot.
Thibaut Courtois, the goalkeeper for Real Madrid, sent Ter Stegen a message on the social media site X.
The Belgian goalie wrote, “It hurt me a lot to see you leave the pitch like that.”
“I hope you can recover soon and we see you again in goal.”
Diego Simeone’s undefeated Atletico Madrid was unable to go past Rayo Vallecano in a rivalry match between the two cities.
After thirty-five minutes, Isi Palazon of Rayo scored a goal from close range, but it was first flagged offside.
But early in the second half, after Alexander Sorloth had fed the England international, Gallagher finished cleanly from the edge of the area.
Atletico captain Koke told Movistar that “(at halftime) Simeone told us we all had to run, these days anyone who is not running here cannot play.”marc
