Villarreal put five past Barcelona in what could spell the end for Xavi Hernandez

In a match full of plenty of goals, Villarreal came out on top as the visitors scored three times late in the second half to beat Barcelona 5-3.

The 'Yellow Submarine' pulled to a 2-0 lead after Gerard Moreno scored in the 41st minute. Former Barcelona academy product Ilias Akhomach doubled their lead after taking advantage of a Joao Cancelo error.

The grumblings quickly grew at Montjuic but Barcelona fought back into the game with Ilkay Gundogan pouncing on a poorly controlled ball by Robert Lewandowski to cut the lead in half. Pedri then equalized as he slammed home a rebound inside the box. In a span of eight minutes, Barcelona pulled even.

In the 71st minute, Gundogan delivered a cross off a free-kick that at first glance looked to have come off Ronald Araujo. He celebrated it as if it was his own but the replay showed Eric Bailly was the one who tucked it in, resulting in an own goal.

The Catalan side was in high spirits and had a couple of occasions to score a fourth but failed to do so.

Those misses came back to haunt them as Goncalo Guedes equalized in the 84th minute. All it took was one pass for the former Valencia star to rifle a shot past Iñaki Peña.

The air completely went out of Montjuic and the Barcelona players. It deflated even more when it looked like they had a penalty after a handball in the box only for the call to be reversed after the referee took a look at the monitor.

Barcelona went from a possible penalty and a possible 4-3 advantage, to being down 4-3 after Alexander Sorloth poked a shot past Peña after some poor defending by the home team in the 99th minute. Peña himself made a feeble attempt at parrying the ball away which only resulted in hitting Sorloth.

With Barcelona desperately trying for an equalizer, Villarreal sealed the game courtesy of Jose Luis Morales for the final 5-3 scoreline.

It was yet another defeat for Barcelona and another game where they allow at least two goals.

Even worse for Xavi, it could have marked the end of his spell depending on how much patience Joan Laporta has.

"We have to improve this because that can't happen," said Frenkie de Jong after the match. "If you come back from 0-2, you cannot allow that counterattack. It happens to us too much.

"There is complete confidence in the coach and the staff, they are doing a good job. It's our fault, the players' fault, if it doesn't work out, it's our fault."

One thing is what is said in front of the cameras and the other is what is being said, or felt, inside that locker room.

The fact of the matter is the loss leaves Barcelona all but out of the race for LaLiga. With the Champions League also realistically out of reach, the objective for the remainder of the season is to try to get second place, and qualify for the Spanish Super Cup, and finish in a Champions League place.

The end for Xavi may not come before the season ends. Barring another humiliating exit in Europe, the end for him may come at the end of the season. Things aren't working out and Laporta may want the next manager to enter on a clean slate.