After Villarreal's victory against Espanyol and Real Madrid's draw at Vallecano, FC Barcelona couldn't afford another slip-up in Vigo, who hadn't lost since September 28th, for the 12th matchday of La Liga . For this encounter, Hansi Flick notably brought Robert Lewandowski back into the starting eleven, alongside Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford. On the other side, Borja Iglesias led the attack, having not scored in La Liga for a month and a half.
After ten minutes of play, Javier Alberola pointed to the penalty spot after a handball by Marcos Alonso in the box. A gift for Lewandowski, who made no mistake in opening the scoring and celebrating his return to the starting eleven in style (10th minute, 0-1). But the Catalans were caught out almost immediately by a lightning-fast counter-attack from Celta Vigo and Carreira's equalizer (11th minute, 1-1). The two teams traded blows, and Barcelona finally regained the lead with a well-placed cross from Rashford for Lewandowski's second goal (37th minute, 1-2). This equalizer, once again, didn't unsettle Celta, who bounced back thanks to Borja Iglesias (43rd minute, 2-2). But just when the home side thought they had done the hard part, Lamine Yamal took advantage of a bad intervention by Moriba to send a first-time shot with his right foot and give the Catalans the lead again (45th+4, 2-3).
Barça are now three points behind Real Madrid
In the second half, FC Barcelona took control and largely dominated the game (Celta Vigo only managed one shot). Lewandowski, meanwhile, was in inspired form, completing his hat-trick after a superb cross from Rashford was perfectly placed onto his head (73rd minute, 2-4). Barça then enjoyed a relatively comfortable end to the match, but finished with ten men after Frenkie de Jong was sent off (90+4).
The job is done for Barça, who move back into second place in La Liga and are now just three points behind Real Madrid. Celta Vigo suffer their first defeat in a month and a half and remain in mid-table, in 13th position.
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