Barcelona vs. Valencia: Score, Reaction from 2016 La Liga Game
Barcelona suffered a third consecutive defeat in La Liga for the first time in 13 years on Sunday, losing 2-1 to Valencia at the Camp Nou.
Ivan Rakitic handed Valencia a shock lead with an unfortunate own goal, and Santi Mina doubled their advantage against the run of play just before half-time.
Barcelona could have been up by three or four goals at that point, and Lionel Messi finally beat goalkeeper Diego Alves after 63 minutes. But despite sustained pressure, the Catalans couldn't find an equaliser. The loss means Atletico Madrid have now caught up with the Catalans in the standings, although Barcelona still lead on head-to-head.
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As shared by the club’s official Twitter account, Sergi Roberto received the start for Barcelona:
The Catalans entered the contest in dreadful form following their UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid and the shock loss against Real Sociedad, and per ESPN FC’s Dermot Corrigan, it led to some odd banners at the Camp Nou:
Barcelona took control of the ball early in typical fashion, and Neymar and Roberto came close to opening the score in the fifth minute, with both seeing their shots blocked.
Luis Suarez blasted over from a promising position, and goalkeeper Alves had to make a fine stop to deny Messi, as Barcelona dominated play and pushed the visitors deep into their own half.
Suarez again failed to find the target with a curling shot, and Neymar got in on the action as well, firing a hard shot on goal that troubled Alves.
Valencia barely threatened goalkeeper Claudio Bravo early, but Rodrigo sent a first warning sign after 18 minutes, as he found himself alone in front of the stopper after a good counter-attack. The striker failed to hit the target, however, to the dismay of his team-mates.
Javier Mascherano was the next Blaugrana star to come close to scoring, but Suarez failed to spot his headed effort was likely going in and got a touch on the ball that directed it over the crossbar.
Messi again failed to put the ball past Alves, who saved his team with several key stops in the first half before the visitors sent the Camp Nou into shock in the 26th minute. Guilherme Siqueira fired a cross into the box, and the ball took an odd deflection off Rakitic and ended up in the net.
FRHD shared footage of the goal:
Barcelona immediately pushed forward again, but the unexpected goal boosted Valencia’s defence, which suddenly looked a lot stronger than it did before. While the Blaugrana continued to dominate possession, chances became fewer.
Rakitic tried to make up for his unfortunate error with a headed chance, but his weak effort flew well wide of the goal.
Messi blasted a free-kick into the wall, but the ball was barely cleared and eventually worked back to the Argentinian, whose header forced Alves to make a diving stop. Barcelona were once again knocking on the door, but instead, it was Valencia who found the net just before half-time.
A beautiful passing move saw Daniel Parejo pick out Mina, who kept his cool and beat Bravo to give his side a two-goal lead. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl struggled to find the words to describe what he was seeing:
Bleacher Report UK resorted to this video:
The Catalans came out firing for the second half, and Rakitic almost gave them the perfect start with a shot that flew just wide. Messi again lined up to take a free-kick from an excellent position, but like before, he failed to clear the Valencia wall.
The visitors played some nice football with the Catalans, however, and introduced Paco Alcacer in a surprise move as they went looking for even more goals. Bravo had to get down to stop a shot from Rodrigo, while Jordi Alba should have done better after smart play from Messi.
Messi would eventually unlock the Valencia defence after 63 minutes, scoring his 500th career goal after a smart pass from Alba. BreatheSport shared some of his statistics:
"631 Games
— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) April 17, 2016"
500 Goals
201 Assists
1 Lionel Messi
The greatest to ever do it pic.twitter.com/FnnVoswW0C
Alcacer nearly responded immediately, but Gerard Pique got in a block in the nick of time.
The match halted briefly, as the official went to have a word with Barcelona's technical staff, who had voiced their disapproval with some of his decisions all match long.
Valencia continued their fine defensive effort, but Alves had to dig deep to keep out a fantastic effort from Rakitic with 14 minutes left to play. Somehow, the Brazilian managed to get down in the blink of an eye and stop the Croatian's effort from finding the bottom corner.
With 10 minutes left to play, Bleacher Report UK reminded Barcelona fans of this statistic:
Suarez thought he had finally escaped Shkodran Mustafi, who did a fantastic job of marking him out of the match, but just as he was ready to fire, the linesman raised the flag for offside. The Uruguayan came agonisingly close to an equaliser minutes later, but he just couldn't reach Sergio Busquets' cross.
Neymar got even closer, as a loose ball inside the box fell kindly for the Brazilian, but the Valencia defenders threw their bodies in the way and somehow blocked the shot.
Alcacer should have put the match to bed when he found himself alone in front of Bravo after a perfect counter-attack, but the Spanish forward missed his shot.
On the other end of the pitch, Pique missed Barcelona's best chance for an equaliser, chesting the ball down before wildly missing the goal from just eight yards out.
With the loss, Barcelona's lead in the standings is now gone, and with five matches left to play, the title race is as close as it has been all season.
Barcelona will visit Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday, while Valencia will host Eibar.
Post-Match Reaction
As shared by Corrigan, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique didn't think the loss was deserved:
The Catalans still lead Spain's top division, but with five matches left to play, momentum lies with Atletico and Real Madrid. Barcelona have to turn things around in a hurry, as the two teams from the capital aren't expected to drop a lot of points moving forward.
Enrique should consider fielding a number of backups against La Coruna, as the likes of Neymar and Suarez looked flat and tired against Valencia and are in dire need of a break. Now is the time to shake things up, before it's too late.
