There was a rare sight indeed on Saturday night, that of a team outplaying Champions League winners Barcelona for long spells of a match at Camp Nou and coming away with a 1-1 draw.
The team in question was Villarreal, and it is not often that you see a side playing such expansive soccer away to Barcelona without leaving with a hiding.
Young Pedro Rodriguez gave the Catalans a 7th minute lead, and it looked like Barca wouldn't have to wait long for a second, with Thierry Henry giving Javi Venta a torrid time down the Barca right.
But Villarreal played their way into the match, and earned a deserved equalizer scored by late developer David Fuster after half-time.
It is common to see a side shut up shop and adopt a 'what we have, we keep' attitude once level at Camp Nou, but Villarreal continued to press and coach Ernesto Valverde can have a certain amount of regret that they didn't win the game. They were on top for a long time in the second-half, until Barca introduced the excellent Andres Iniesta who posed a number of questions to the Yellow Submarine's backline. The Spanish midfielder really is a treat to watch, but his season has been truncated by injury.
Italy striker Guiseppe Rossi could have won it for Villarreal late on but saw his effort cleared off the line by Carles Puyol. It occurred to me when Rossi came on as a substitute that both he and commanding Barca defender Gerard Pique (also on the pitch) were sold by Sir Alex Ferguson, obviously deemed not quite up to Manchester United standard. How Ferguson could do with them at the moment, given their lack of strength in depth in attack and terrible injuries in defense.
But bravo Villarreal, they look likely to mount a bid for a top four finish after a difficult first half to the campaign.
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