BARCELONA: La Liga leaders Barcelona fought back from two goals down to beat Celta Vigo 4-3 in a rollercoaster encounter on Saturday, with a stoppage-time penalty by Raphinha extending their lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table to seven points.
The Catalans trailed 3-1 inside the final half-hour after a Borja Iglesias hat-trick for the visitors but Dani Olmo scored and then Raphinha struck to tie the score at 3-3. The game seemed to be heading for a draw when Dani Olmo won a penalty deep into added time and Raphinha stepped up to score and seal the three points.
The result puts the pressure back on Real who play fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. Celta Vigo are seventh with 43 points.
“This is football. We wanted to win this game but we weren’t always at our best. But the team came through in the end and the crowd pushed us on right to the finish,” Barca substitute Olmo told DAZN. “These are three points that take us closer to our objective, they’re important and we have to continue.”
Barca took the lead when Ferran Torres picked up the ball in midfield and found space to dribble towards goal, pulling the trigger from the edge of the box to beat goalkeeper Vicente Guaita for his 10th league goal of the season.
But Celta responded immediately when Pablo Duran put in a superb cross from the wing and as Wojciech Szczesny sprinted off his line to collect the ball, the Polish keeper missed it to give Iglesias a tap-in into an empty net.
Celta took the lead early in the second half after a mistake by Frenkie de Jong, who ceded possession sloppily in a dangerous area, allowing Iglesias to find an angle and drive a low effort beyond the reach of Szczesny.
With Barca on the attack Celta hit them again with Sergio Carreira playing Iglesias into an ocean of space behind the high line. The striker galloped through and beat the retreating Szczesny with ease.
A stunned Barcelona tried to recover quickly and they got one back in the 64th minute when Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha combined to find Olmo, who scored five minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Four minutes later the Brazilian winger scored himself, heading home as Lamine Yamal crossed into the danger area from the right flank.
A shell-shocked Celta looked to leave with a point but Olmo earned a penalty when he was fouled in the box and the referee had no doubts when he pointed to the spot after a VAR check.
Raphinha then stepped up and blasted the ball into the top corner in the 98th minute for his 30th goal in all competitions this season.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling… we scored three, which few teams can do (here), but it feels bad,” said Celta’s Duran. “We have to be proud of our team, we came here with personality, played well, had a good plan and carried it out — but for small details it got away from us.”
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2025
