Villarreal 0 - Barcelona 2

Villarreal: Viera; Javi Venta, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Peña, Arruabarrena (Roger 67'); Josico, Marcos Senna; Riquelme, José Marí, Sorín; Figueroa (Xisco Nadal 78'). 4-2-3-1.
Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Oleguer, Puyol, Márquez, Sylvinho; Deco, Edmilson, Motta (Van Bronckhorst 73'); Messi (Larsson 81'), Eto'o (Gabri 91'), Ronaldinho. 4-3-3.

Team changes: Villarreal: No change / Barça: Oleguer, Motta for Belletti, Xavi.

Goals:
0-1. 23. Peña (own goal). Ball went in off knee after Ronaldinho free kick saved.
0-2. 63. Deco. Fired in long shot which deflected off shoulder of Peña.

At the fifth attempt, Frank Rijkaard recorded his first win over Villarreal, albeit from his sick bed. The Barcelona coach was suffering from flu and his assistant, Henk ten Cate was left to oversee team affairs. Barça also have to do without stalwart midfielder Xavi for the next few months. His place on the night was taken by Motta.

Undeterred as ever by Barcelona's reputation, Villarreal went straight onto the attack and should have had a penalty in the second minute. Perhaps the referee hadn't had time to locate his whistle. Sorín burst into the area and got to the ball before Valdés went flying into the Argentine midfielder.

The match was full of penalty box talking points. José Marí went down after a slight shove from Márquez. The former Spanish international striker appears to go down rather easily for such a big man. However, in another incident when José Mari again fell under a Marquez challenge, the Mexican was sent off following his second booking. Márquez will now join the list of absentees for the visit of Sevilla to the Camp Nou next weekend. Motta will also be sidelined after injuring himself in a reckless challenge on Maros Senna as the Barça injury list begins to grow.

Barça won the match comfortably without a more than a little help from Villarreal defender Peña. The first goal arrived midway through the first half when Peña failed to get out of the way of a rebound and had to watch in despair as the ball trundled into the net. The Villarreal defender was unlucky but his goalkeeper, Viera, really should have held the Ronaldinho free kick. The Catalans sealed victory in the second half when Deco's shot took a heavy deflection off the unfortunate Peña. The Portuguese midfielder will be credited with the goal but wasn't so lucky when he was booked for diving in the box after a reasonable looking penalty claim.