Villarreal lost ground in the race for a Champions League spot after they were thrashed 4-1 by Barcelona on Sunday night at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
Strikes from Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Ansu Fati, plus a Pau Torres own goal saw the La Liga champions record a comfortable win, while Gerard Moreno briefly restored parity for the home team in the 14th minute.
Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze was involved in the build-up to Villarreal's only goal when his long defense-splitting pass found Paco Alcacer and Moreno fired home the rebound after Cazorla's shot was blocked.
Former Brighton & Hove winger Andrea Orlandi has blamed Barcelona's Spain fullback Jordi Alba for not tracking the Super Eagle before his superb pass.
Speaking on La Liga TV, Orlandi stated : "It was a fantastic pass from Chukwueze, Jordi Alba was trying to get closer to him but not enough, he didn't do enough to actually stop that pass."
Orlandi pointed out that Barcelona launched most of their attacks from the left because of the defensive frailties of Chukwueze, who was deployed as a right midfielder.
"For Villarreal they were surprised by Barcelona setup, they didn't expect Antoine Griezmann, Suarez playing together, they didn't expect Messi to be top of the diamond.
"And when they reacted it was a little bit too late, they reacted in the second half, this is when Calleja brought on an extra midfielder, he made it crowded in the middle, there was traffic in there and forced Barcelona to play wide.
"Those first 45 minutes they were really surprised. Iborra and Anguissa couldn't cope with the numbers Barcelona had there, they were completely outnumbered in midfield.
"Barcelona kept attacking on the left hand side because both Mario Gaspar and Chukwueze had problems to defend."
"And when they reacted it was a little bit too late, they reacted in the second half, this is when Calleja brought on an extra midfielder, he made it crowded in the middle, there was traffic in there and forced Barcelona to play wide.
"Those first 45 minutes they were really surprised. Iborra and Anguissa couldn't cope with the numbers Barcelona had there, they were completely outnumbered in midfield.
"Barcelona kept attacking on the left hand side because both Mario Gaspar and Chukwueze had problems to defend."
Ahead of their visit to the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez where they face Oghenekaro Etebo's Getafe on Wednesday, Villarreal are three points behind fourth placed Sevilla, who have a game in hand.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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