Barcelona's Late Victory over Valencia Could Be a Season-Defining Moment

MESTALLA, Valencia — Lionel Messi is a quiet, verging-on-shy man. He does’t like to make a scene. Usually when he speaks on the pitch, he does it with a hand covering his mouth so no lip-readers can work out what he’s saying.

Saturday afternoon was an exception—in many ways. Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Valencia at Mestalla was La Liga's game of the season so far, and it will be no surprise if it still is by the end of the campaign.

Valencia’s brutality in the early stages was startling, with Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta a victim, scissored by Enzo Perez in a challenge that left him with a damaged knee ligament. His time on the treatment table could range from a few weeks to a few months.

Mario Suarez went in the book for a second-half foul, but it should have been the bath instead when he committed an atrocious challenge on Andre Gomes in the first period that referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco did not even card him for.

Undiano's refereeing was horrendous, too. He has refereed more Primera Division games than any other official but showed none of that experience with a string of terrible decisions.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

They were decisions that angered both sides, with Barcelona frustrated by Valencia’s violence but benefiting in various ways from Undiano’s incompetence.

Sergio Busquets, for example, should have been sent off when he stopped a break by pulling a Che player's shirt while already on a booking for a similar offence.

Samuel Umtiti was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he barged over Rodrigo in the penalty area.

Lionel Messi’s opening goal should have been ruled out because Luis Suarez, in a offside position, jumped over his shot and left goalkeeper Diego Alves unsighted.

What they could not complain about was the penalty Aymen Abdennour gave away for clumsily axing down Suarez in the area in the final minute of stoppage time.

And despite Barcelona’s bad record at converting penalties—Messi, Suarez and Neymar had missed 15 of the 38 they had taken before Saturday—the Argentinian's strike was unstoppable, hit so hard, so firm into the bottom corner, beating penalty-saving expert Diego Alves despite the Brazilian diving the right way.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press/Associated Press

Valencia had turned the game around through two goals in four second-half minutes from Munir El Haddadi, against his parent club, and Rodrigo, but Suarez’s lashed effort levelled things up, creating a frantic finale.

As Barcelona celebrated wildly in front of the Curva Nord, Valencia’s fans raged. They swore at the Blaugrana stars who could not disguise their joy, and things began to turn nasty.

An idiot threw a bottle at the players, and it struck Neymar in the head. Suarez also hit the deck.

Messi was furious. In a rare show of passion from a man who usually keeps his guard up, he turned to the fans and started screaming what appeared to be obscenities and pumping his fist.

It was a massive moment, and it could prove to be the type of event that galvanises the team and sends them into the weeks ahead with renewed confidence and vigour.

Manager Luis Enrique was unapologetic for the behaviour of his star man after the game.

"I’m not here to talk about that," he said of the incident. "We celebrated like you have to after playing an opponent who makes things so difficult for you."

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

It wasn’t the only controversial moment involving supporters, with former Valencia forward Paco Alcacer also struck by an object as he took his place on the Barcelona bench.

Playing this game without Gerard Pique clearly had a big effect on the team. He will also be missing for the matches ahead, including clashes with Sevilla and Manchester City.

Messi has six goals in three games since he returned from his monthlong injury absence and will need to continue performing like this to keep the team flying without the centre-back.

Umtiti looked shaky for the first time in a Barcelona shirt without the Spaniard’s commending presence alongside him, while Javier Mascherano did not step up and take responsibility when the team was suffering.

Lucas Digne, filling in for the injured Jordi Alba, suffered at the hands of Joao Cancelo and Munir, but he also made a couple of late interventions that prevented Barcelona from falling further behind while 2-1 down.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Without their first-choice defence, Barcelona started shaking when Valencia turned up the pressure, with Mestalla becoming increasingly noisy to the point it was deafening.

"How we won speaks a lot about the character and the spirit of this team, despite the adversities throughout the game, like Iniesta’s injury, which is sad news," Luis Enrique explained. "But the character is there. The team believe in each other and are desperate to win, but the objective is to do so without suffering so much."

The coach was right to hail Barcelona’s character. Like in the 4-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday, they suffered for a while but still came out on top. The suffering will continue, though.

Without Pique, who is out for three weeks, and Iniesta, who could miss two months of action, Barcelona are losing a hefty part of their spine. Nobody can bring the ball out of defence as well as the former; nobody can help Barcelona control the game in midfield as well as the latter.

"We hope he can recover soon," a worried Busquets said about Barcelona’s captain. So does football as a whole. The game is worse off without Iniesta. But in his absence, his team-mates have to carry on fighting, and Messi’s late winner could be the moment that makes them believe.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Suarez agreed, telling Sport that Barcelona’s winner demonstrated their ambition and desire. He said:

"

This win allows us to keep calm and continue believing in ourselves. Without doubt it was a tough game, which we knew it would be because Valencia always put you under pressure at Mestalla. But we’ve demonstrated who we are and we did it on the pitch. Our ambition brought us the victory today, because we didn’t drop our heads when the second goal went in and we didn’t settle for the draw. We always want to win and we’ve proven that in Valencia.

"

Perhaps at the end of the season, the Valencia fan tossing the bottle at Neymar’s head, riling Messi, will be looked back on as the moment that glued this team together.

Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.