FC Barcelona will be spending at least another week at the top of the Liga table. There have been all kinds of ups and downs in clashes with Villarreal in recent years, but Saturday’s installment, against a team currently sitting in third place, was a fairly comfortable ride.

the game as it happened

It was a solid performance all round, but one name stands head and shoulders above the rest. Lamine Yamal. In one of his most impeccable performances to date in the blaugrana jersey, the 18-year-old authored the first three goals to complete the first, but surely not the last, hat-trick of his already glittering career.

Two first-half goals from the teenage wonder set Barça on good course against a difficult opponent, and although Villarreal pulled one back and threatened even more damage, Lamine’s third put things too far out of their reach. Robert Lewandowski added a fourth in injury time.

The 4-1 victory means the blaugranes go four points clear of Real Madrid, who face Getafe on Monday.

Lamine gets one

Hansi Flick had spoken before the game about the importance of not making mistakes in such a potentially tight fixture. And after 28 minutes of an intense battle in which Jules Kounde had been involved in the two biggest moments, a great piece of defending against Sergi Cardona and a less impressive piece of finishing at the other end, the first big mistake was made.

Fortunately, it was Villarreal who made it. The visitors gave the ball away in midfield, Fermín Lopez slotted it into the path of Lamine Yamal, and the youngster did the rest.

Barça were not the side creating the most chances, but they led 1-0.

Lamine gets two

If the first goal was just Lamine doing his job, the second was about Lamine doing his magic. He was in a nowhere position close to the corner flag. Options were few. Something inside told him to go it alone. He danced his way through the yellow shirts and pumped a wonderful finish into the far corner of the net.

That wasn’t just a goal in a football match. It was a work of art.

A moment of doubt

Villarreal suddenly looked out of it, but just three minutes into the second half, they sneaked a goal back. A messy scramble following a corner ended with a loose ball at the feet of Pape Gueye, and it was a simple tap-in for the Senagalese international.

And the visitors could have added a second when Joan Garcia was caught off his line and Ayoze Pérez had an empty net to shoot at but missed the target by inches.

And Lamine gets three

Matters were slipping out of Barça’s hands. Villarreal were pushing for an equaliser. Something was needed, and we got it.

A pinpoint defence-splitting pass from Pedri was collected by Lamine Yamal, who beat Luiz Júnior for the third time of the afternoon. His fingers told the story. One-two-three. The first hat-trick of his professional career. The only surprise is that he had never scored three in a game before.

Now for the cup

That goal as good as ended any chance of Villarreal mounting a comeback, and instead Barça topped up their tally with a Lewandowski goal, originally called offside in error, in the dying minutes.

A faultless performance all-round from the Catalans, whose attention now turns to Tuesday and the difficult but by no means impossible task of turning around a four-goal deficit against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

If they play like they played they today, then there is no reason whatsoever not to dream.

Força Barça