Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona LIVE: Raphinha makes it four! - LaLiga

SAM

Updated 22/09/2024 13:25 CDT

Good afternoon everybody and welcome along to this MARCA in English LaLiga EA Sports live blog for the fixture of Villarreal vs Barcelona.

Barcelona will look to recover from their midweek Champions League loss. Despite a strong start under new coach Hansi Flick, the Catalans suffered their first setback of the season, losing 2-1 to Monaco in their European opener. An early red card for Eric Garcia left Barcelona down to 10 men, and while Lamine Yamal scored his first Champions League goal, it wasn't enough to avoid defeat.

However, Barcelona's domestic form remains flawless, having won all five of their LaLiga matches. They sit at the top of the table, and no matter the result against Villarreal, they are guaranteed to stay in first place this weekend. Villarreal, meanwhile, have also enjoyed a solid start to the season, going unbeaten with three wins and two draws, putting them just four points behind Barcelona.

Barcelona enter the game with a heavily depleted squad. Key midfielders Dani Olmo, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, and Fermin Lopez are sidelined with injuries, while Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen are also out in defense. To make matters worse, Ferran Torres is suspended after his red card against Girona.

Villarreal vs Barcelona kicks off at 18:30 CEST - local time in Spain. That means it is a 17:30 kick-off for fans in the UK and Ireland.

For the US, that makes Villarreal vs Barcelona a 12:30 EDT / 09:30 PDT start.

In the UK and Ireland, the Villarreal vs Barcelona fixture will be shown on LaLiga TV, while in Ireland specifically it will be on Premier Sports as well.

In the US, Villarreal vs Barcelona will be shown on ESPN+ USA and ESPN Deportes.