By DPA
Madrid : Barcelona crashed down to fourth place in the Spanish Liga with a 1-3 defeat away to lively Villarreal.
All the goals in Villarreal came in a frenetic first half, with Santi Cazorla shooting the hosts ahead after just two minutes Saturday.
Villarreal went 2-0 ahead in the 12th minute when Marcos Senna put away their first penalty after Eric Abidal was harshly adjudged to have brought down veteran Robert Pires.
17-year-old Bojan Krkic, making his first start for Barca, pulled a goal back in the 24th minute, after being put through by Lionel Messi.
But Senna made it 3-1 for Villarreal with a second penalty in the 33rd minute, after a clumsy challenge by Gabriel Milito on the outstanding Pires.
Barca – without late arrival Ronaldinho – never looked capable of turning the match round in the second half, and could have lost by a bigger margin.
To make matters worse, midfielder Deco limped off to join Barca’s lengthening injury list.
Their first defeat leaves Barca fourth, with 17 points from eight games. Villarreal and Valencia are joint second with 18 points, one point behind leaders Real Madrid.
Valencia won 4-2 away to lowly Deportivo Coruna Saturday, with two goals from the evergreen Fernando Morientes.
Joaquin Sanchez and Ruben Baraja scored Valencia’s other goals. Xisco Jimenez and Rodolfo Bodipo scored for Depor, who could fall into the relegation zone depending on Sunday’s results.
Valencia veteran Ivan Helguera was sent off at the end, but by then the visitors were well on the way to their fourth away win.
In Saturday’s other early match, Sevilla recovered their form to win 2-0 away to bottom team Levante, with two early goals from Luis Fabiano.
Their first win in five games takes Sevilla up to 10th, with nine points.
It was a poor start for new Levante coach Giovanni De Biasi, whose team are rock bottom with just one point.