At the Estadi Olympic Lluis Companys, Rafael Benitez’s team put up a strong performance and appeared to have everything under control as they went up 2-0 after 76 minutes.
With three goals in the closing 10 minutes to defeat Celta Vigo 3-2, Barcelona completed an incredible comeback with a goal from Joao Cancelo in the 89th minute.
Tasos Douvikas’ addition to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s superb first-half goal gave Rafael Benitez’s Celta a 2-0 lead after 76 minutes. Celta put on a great performance and appeared to be in complete control.
However, they were defeated by an unbelievable late comeback that no one anticipated as Robert Lewandowski scored twice in four minutes before Cancelo, a former Manchester City defender, won it with one minute remaining in regulation.
The comeback will hide the flaws in Barca’s performance, which was concerning as they were sliced open mercilessly by a lively Celta side, but Xavi’s team now leads the table after the three points.
Even though his club is only one point above the drop zone, Benitez will be very encouraged by what he witnessed from them.
With a sharp first-half effort that earned them a lead in the 19th minute, they started to play more like the club at the top of the standings.
Lucca De La Torre slipped in Larsen in the second phase after Barca failed to properly clear a corner, and the Norwegian struck a beautiful shot into the bottom corner with a finish that fellow countryman Erling Haaland would have been proud of.
Five minutes before halftime, they could have had a 2-0 lead but Larsen was saved by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen with a one-handed stop. Jonathan Bamba received the rebound, and he was about to score when Oriol Romeu made a nice block. When the ball dropped to De La Torre, the threat was still present, but despite having the goal at his disposal, he rocketed past it.
Celta believed they should have been awarded a penalty early in the second half because of their speedy breakaway threat, but VAR decided in the hosts’ favor.
However, there was no way out when the visitors earned their second goal, which at the moment appeared to have secured the victory.
They attempted a swift counterattack, which Douvikas capitalized on with a bobbled finish after racing on to Iago Aspas’ flawless pass.
But Barca demonstrated that they can have a fortress in Estadi Olympic Lluis Companys even while playing away from the Nou Camp by scoring a magnificent three-goal salvo in only eight minutes.
Lewandowski got things going by latching onto Joao Felix’s pass and firing a goal off the crossbar.
Three minutes later, the Poland striker tucked in Cancelo’s cross to tie the score.
In the 89th minute, Cancelo then took the lead to secure the victory when he entered the box to convert Gavi’s cross and secure a sixth consecutive victory across all competitions.
Barcelona will play against Mallorca and Sevilla in their next two La Liga games before traveling to Porto for their second Champions League group match, keeping the pressure on Girona and Real Madrid at the top of the standings. Celta will hope to be fully recovered by the time they host Alaves on Thursday after their catastrophic near-miss today.
