Barcelona Thrashes Villarreal but Faces Potential Blow with Ter Stegen Injury

Barcelona secured a dominant 5-1 victory against Villarreal on Sunday, continuing their perfect start to La Liga. Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha each scored twice, propelling the team to their sixth consecutive league win. However, the match was overshadowed by a potentially serious knee injury to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who left the field on a stretcher.

"I think it will be a huge injury, when he laid down on the field ... you can see it directly," Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said to DAZN.

Lewandowski opened the scoring with two goals, although he later missed a penalty in a thrilling encounter at Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica. Ayoze Perez briefly revived Villarreal's hopes just before halftime, but the hosts had two goals disallowed. Barcelona's victory was solidified by goals from Pablo Torre and Raphinha.

After Real Madrid's 4-1 win over Espanyol on Saturday, Barcelona maintained a four-point lead at the top of the table. "It's very important for us that we played a game away from home, we scored five goals and in the end we have three points," Lewandowski commented. "In the end it doesn't matter how, as long as we win that's perfect."

Flick opted to start Eric Garcia in defensive midfield despite his red card against Monaco in the Champions League earlier in the week. Reserve players Gerard Martin and Sergi Dominguez, along with playmaker Torre, were also included in the lineup due to Dani Olmo's injury.

Lamine Yamal struck the post early in the match, setting the stage for Lewandowski's opening goal in the 20th minute after Torre assisted him. Despite Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Conde's efforts to deny Lewandowski's initial shot, the striker scored again in the 35th minute, converting a rebound with an acrobatic finish.

This marked Lewandowski's sixth La Liga goal of the season, putting him two ahead of Kylian Mbappe in the race for the league's golden boot.

Villarreal remained a threat on the counter-attack, with Perez scoring after an assist from Nicolas Pepe. Ter Stegen made a remarkable save against Pepe shortly before halftime, but he suffered an injury while catching a corner kick and was replaced by Inaki Pena.

Early in the second half, Pepe's goal was disallowed for offside, and Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar. Torre then scored with a deflected shot, extending Barcelona's lead despite Villarreal's momentum. Lewandowski missed a penalty after Eric Bailly fouled Yamal, and Villarreal's Thierno Barry also had a goal ruled out for offside.

Raphinha put the game beyond doubt with a deflected shot and another goal following a brilliant pass from Yamal.

While Barcelona celebrated their emphatic victory and flawless start to the season, the potential severity of Ter Stegen's injury raises concerns about their title aspirations.