La Liga: Barcelona end La Liga 2021/22 campaign with a 2-0 DEFEAT against the Yellow Submarines, Villarreal claim a ticket to the Europa Conference League, Watch HIGHLIGHTS

Adama Traore flashed over and Ferran Torres was denied by Geronimo Rulli inside a bright opening 10 minutes for the hosts.

Barca looked the more likely to open the scoring inside the opening half hour, yet all they had to show for their dominance was a Sergio Busquets strike that flew narrowly over the crossbar.

The inability to take advantage of their superiority was punished four minutes before the interval as Alfonso Pedraza latched onto Daniel Parejo’s pass and steered past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

La Liga: Villarreal earn Europa Conference League for next season

Villarreal doubled their advantage in the 55th minute when Gomez lashed into the roof of net after cutting out Traore’s dismal attempted clearance.

Frenkie de Jong had an effort ruled out for offside late on as Barca tried in vain to find their way back into the game.

What does it mean? Villarreal end dire run against insipid hosts

Xavi has done well to steady the Barca ship after a chaotic start to the season, yet he will be disappointed with the way his players’ intensity has dropped off in the final two games of the season.

Victory for Villarreal, meanwhile, ended a run of 10 straight LaLiga defeats at Camp Nou, which was their worst run of successive away losses against a single opponent in the competition’s history.