Villarreal 4-4 Barcelona: Champions snatch a point at the death in eight-goal thriller [Tweets]

Barcelona managed to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat in a highly entertaining affair against Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica.

Two late goals from captain Lionel Messi and star striker Luis Suarez salvaged a point for reigning La Liga champions Barcelona, as they managed to hold relegation battlers Villarreal to a 4-4 draw on Tuesday night.

Ernesto Valverde opted to leave out key men Messi, Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic from the starting lineup for the trip to Villarreal, but that did not seem to have affected Barcelona as they made a solid start with Philippe Coutinho handing them the lead just 12 minutes into the game. Malcom then made it 2-0 in favour of the Catalans four minutes left.

However, Villarreal were not one to go down easily as Samuel Chukwueze pulled one back for the home team halfway through the first period. And just five minutes later, Javier Calleja’s men had restored parity courtesy of a Karl Toko Ekambi goal.

The turnaround was complete when Vicente Iborra made it 3-2 for the Yellow Submarine and the game seemed done and dusted when substitute Carlos Bacca added a fourth in the 80th minute.

However, a red card to Alvaro Gonzalez minutes later seemed to have spurred Barcelona on as Messi, having come on as a substitute, scored a trademark free-kick in the 90th minute to halve the deficit. Three minutes into the added time Suarez came up with a brilliant half-volley to rescue a point and seal a great escape for the Catalans.

Here’s how the Barcelona fans reacted to a nail-biting encounter at Estadio de la Ceramica.

Fans took to Twitter in full force to celebrate the genius of Lionel Messi. The little magician turned the game on its head after coming on and was integral for the Catalans to muster a comeback, dispatching another sensational free-kick under pressure.


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