Their defense was poor and seemed to rely on each other in this match, making them have to be willing to lose points even though it was actually still able to get 3 points because after all, seeing from the last 3 goals created from Villarreal, they all came from fast counterattacks and poor defense cooperation that made Barcelona lose momentum.
Quite unfortunate actually in this match but on the other hand this is indeed a thing that emphasizes that Barcelona is a different club at this time, especially for their defense.
With this result it looks like they have to try to give up the trophy for this season because even though the match is still quite a lot because it is only halfway through the season but with a difference of 11 points with Madrid at the top it is actually quite difficult for Barcelona.
Barcelona used to be calm after entering the opponent's penalty area, pass the ball and let the available player score, but now they seem to have moved away from that old style of play. The chemistry of the team has changed with Xavi. This is not going to happen with names like Romeu, Kounde, Ferran. The team needs quality players, but financial problems are bending Barça's back. It was a match that clearly showed how inept Barcelona's offensive line is. They wasted many clear positions and Villarreal punished them. Definitely one of the most spectacular matches in recent years.
This kind of thing happens because of the difference in players owned between then and now because after all, implementing the actual tiki taka scheme for Barcelona is like a double-edged knife for them. On the one hand their possession of the ball is greatly helped by a scheme like this but on the other hand the lack of resources in terms of players, especially the inability for some players to play a role when attacking and defending simultaneously makes this backfire for themselves.
Their attacking power is strong and we know it's just finishing that needs to be improved but the defense problem is actually quite disturbing. We can see in the matches against Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey and Villarreal yesterday in La Liga that their defense is not fine.
What a bad end for a mighty player of BArcelona like Xavi, but well this is football and not only football the most high level football, so its not easy to become a great player and a great coach, Barcelona seems to be in the same pace as Manchester United, huge teams who lose the path and cant come back to the good one, no matter what they do.
Actually for Xavi's decision at this time I don't want to blame him for what he did at Barcelona and his decision to leave because he felt he was unable to take Barcelona in a better direction because I think this is purely from the management's inability to overcome the problems they have faced over the years which makes the coach unable to explore further his desires in developing the club's performance.
We can see this season only free players and loan players they bring which indicates that the current situation at Barcelona is still not very good.