Victor Valdes Becoming Fulcrum of Defense as Barcelona Top Valladolid

In recent years, Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was considered a liability by pundits and fans a like. Even last season, when the Blaugrana won every competition they participated in, Valdes was prone to a laughable error from time to time, most notably a poor clearance against Espanyol that gifted the Periquitos a victory.

This year has been different as Valdes has been arguably the top goalkeeper in La Liga. There are calls for him to be included in Spain's squad for the upcoming World Cup, and as of late Victor has been in better form than Real Madrid keeper and Spain captain Iker Casillas. 

Barcelona's 3-0 victory over Valladolid was one of "VV's" finest efforts this season making a number of important saves in a match where the score line tell very little of the story. 

Perhaps the most notable of his first half saves came when Borja struck a venomous free kick, and although Valdes barely had to move he did extremely well to position himself and even better to palm the ball away. 

On the hour mark, Valdes was at full extension to deny Cesar Arzo a headed goal following a corner. 

As key as Valdes was, Carles Puyol put in an exceptional captain's performance applying a number of sensational challenges. 

Without those two anchoring the defense, Valladolid could have easily won the match by a fair margin. 

Barcelona saw little of the ball during the first 20 minutes and Justo Villar's save from Lionel Messi was the only moment of note.

Barca then sprung a brilliant counter attack that saw Messi play in Dani Alves down the right, and the Brazilian full back put in a perfect cross for Xavi to put away with a brilliant scissor kick. 

Moments later, Messi again fed Alves, this time with a header, and the Brazilian looked poised to whip in a cross for Ibrahimovic, but ended up scoring a sensational, albeit lucky, goal. 

The second half saw Messi reclaim his spot atop the La Liga scoring charts with a neat finish following Ibrahimovic's pull back. Ibra himself will feel unlucky not to get on the score sheet after he was denied by Villar on 70 minutes.

Thierry Henry was a bit off the pace as well, but easily could have scored a brilliant goal had Villar not intervened in the 56th minute. 

For Barcelona, it was a decent albeit not great performance. Valdes has become one of Barca's most spectacular performers, while Puyol continues to be the heart and soul of the club.

Xavi and Iniesta were typically creative, although Seydou Keita was not at his best after returning from international duty with Mali. 

The only major concerns for Barcelona could be the goal scoring touch of Henry and Ibra. Luckily for Pep Guardiola's men there is plenty of time before the Champions League starts up again for the two prolific strikers to get back on track. 

Even if they do not, the likes of Pedro and Bojan are waiting in the wings for their chance at glory.