LaLiga: Yamal Shines — Barcelona Thrash Villarreal 4-1 at Camp Nou

Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal

Barcelona move four points clear at the top of LaLiga with a 4-1 win over Villarreal. Lamine Yamal scores his first LaLiga hat-trick as Barcelona beat Villarreal at Camp Nou.

Lamine Yamal's hat-trick and Barcelona's win over Villarreal...

Lamine Yamal, nearly a decade younger than the French international, stole the show, exposing Pape Gueye's mistake. Fermin capitalized on Gueye's giveaway, slicing through the defense with a lethal pass to Lamine, who fired into the bottom-left corner.

Lamine Yamal made history with his first-ever LaLiga hat-trick, leading Barcelona to a 4-1 thrashing of Villarreal at Camp Nou. This impressive win moves Barcelona four points clear at the top of the standings.

Yamal's hat-trick was a highlight of the match, with his first goal coming in the 28th minute after Fermin Lopez's pass down the right. He doubled the lead nine minutes later with a stunning solo run and curling shot into the top corner. Villarreal pulled one back through Pape Gueye, but Yamal completed his hat-trick in the 69th minute with another counter-attack. Robert Lewandowski added a fourth goal in stoppage time.

The teenage sensation's second goal was a masterclass - beating two defenders at a narrow angle and thundering a finish into the top-left corner.

Shortly after Ayoze Perez was caught narrowly offside in a promising move, the Blaugrana surged forward, and another killer Fermin ball found Lamine, who dribbled past his two hapless markers and bagged his first brace since September 2024 – and his first at home in exactly two years.

More joy nearly followed two minutes from half-time, when Raphinha saw a promising free-kick kept out at full stretch by Luiz Junior.

It always felt like something monumental would be required from Villarreal to change the complexion of this game after half-time, especially with Yamal’s second of the day being Barcelona’s 16th LaLiga home goal without response as it stood.

Villarreal reignited the contest just three minutes into the second half when several Barcelona players failed to clear their lines at the end of a Nicolas Pepe corner, and the ball fell kindly to Gueye, who swept in to atone for his earlier error.

That set the nerves jangling as the clock crept towards the hour mark, and Perez somehow managed to miss an open goal when Pau Navarro’s robust tackle on Yamal sparked a Villarreal counter that had Joan Garcia charging out of his goalmouth.

3 POINTS AT HOME!!!! ✅ pic.twitter.com/4WrSMehxSZ

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 28, 2026

But with a renewed willingness to attack always comes the risk of being caught out, and Lamine finally had that elusive match ball with 20 minutes to play.

The teenage star fired into the opposite corner beautifully from a narrow angle, after being granted excess space to dart into the box at the end of an opportunistic Pedri pass.

With the damage long done and Villarreal's chances stubbed out by Lamine's third, the Nou Camp saw a relatively sedate conclusion.

Hat-trick and the ball goes home. 😜 pic.twitter.com/qjm9a1eNxT

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 28, 2026

Barcelona still had time for a fourth goal, though, with Robert Lewandowski tapping on the end of a squared ball inside the box from Kounde 

All eyes are on Monday's clash at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid takes on Getafe. Meanwhile, Villarreal remains nine points clear inside the top four, despite falling short of making history with three consecutive away wins against Barcelona.