After their 1-4 defeat, Villarreal coach Fran Escriba praised FC Barcelona saying that the Catalan club is much more than Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luiz Suarez.
Neymar and Suarez scored one goal each while Messi netted a brace on Saturday to claim a comfortable win at home against Villarreal, who are battling for a top-four finish.
Former Santos star Neymar opened the scoring for the hosts but Cedric Bakambu equalised after half an hour at the Camp Nou Stadium.
Messi then scored the first goal through a deflection and after that further goals from Luis Suarez and a Messi penalty (his 35th league goal of the campaign) sealed the win.
"Barcelona are much more than their front three, even if they didn't have Messi, Suarez and Neymar they would still be an excellent team," Escriba was quoted as saying by Marca.com.
Commenting on the game, Villarreal said: "Barcelona's third goal did us a lot of damage, we believed we could hold on and then get a positive result as long as the score was only 2-1 but after they scored their third anything we could possibly have achieved was gone."
--IANS
gau/dg
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
You’ve reached your limit of {{free_limit}} free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Already subscribed? Log in
Subscribe to read the full story →
Smart Quarterly
₹900
3 Months
₹300/Month
Smart Essential
₹2,700
1 Year
₹225/Month
Super Saver
₹3,900
2 Years
₹162/Month
Renews automatically, cancel anytime
Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans
Exclusive premium stories online
Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors


Complimentary Access to The New York Times
News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic
Business Standard Epaper
Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share


Curated Newsletters
Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox
Market Analysis & Investment Insights
In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor


Archives
Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997
Ad-free Reading
Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements


Seamless Access Across All Devices
Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app
