Marcelino Garcia Toral has said Villarreal were punished by key refereeing decisions as their six-match winning run in La Liga ended with a 2-0 home defeat against Barcelona at La Ceramica on Sunday.
Barcelona maintained their lead over Real Madrid in the LaLiga standings with a hard-fought 2-0 win over a Villarreal side that proved to be a tough nut to crack, despite going down to 10 men for most of the game.
Barcelona defender Jules Kounde has put rumours about missing the Spanish Super Cup to rest after limping off late in his team's 2-0 La Liga win over Villarreal on Sunday night.
Real Madrid made the most of their man advantage to claim a comfortable 2-0 win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu in LaLiga on Saturday.
Barcelona began their Copa del Rey title defence with a hard-fought victory over third-tier Guadalajara, eventually asserting their quality to progress.
Barcelona's veteran goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen faces a defining moment in his career as coach Hansi Flick places the decision about his future firmly in the goalkeeper's own hands ahead of the Copa del Rey tie with CD Guadalajara today.