Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points

A clear goal denied, a good team goal and another with some individual brilliance; Valencia’s clash with Barcelona was an entertaining game and had pretty much everything in it.

After a goalless first half, the game became pretty open as Valencia opened the scoring in the second, but Barcelona showed why they are unbeaten in the league and came back to level the scored in the last 10 minutes.

Rodrigo Moreno was on the scoresheet for Los Che and former Valencia fullback – Jordi Alba – levelled it for the away side after a sumptuous pass from Lionel Messi. Without further ado, let’s look at the key talking points from the game.

#5 Messi’s ghost goal

It was pretty clear, even without the replays on the telly, that the ball had crossed the line when Valencia custodian Neto failed to collect a Lionel Messi shot. However, the goal wasn’t given and the Barca players were clearly enraged.

I’m not sure what’s more laughable, La Liga’s failure to incorporate goal-line technology, or the linesman’s ineptness. The former should have been a must after what transpired between Barcelona and Real Betis last season, effectively costing Barcelona the league title.

Considering how close La Liga usually is, come the end of the season, two points could be massive, so leaving it to chance isn’t the smartest thing to do when you have billions watching the league.

#4 A game of two halves for Valencia

The hosts seemed lost for ideas in the first half as the midfield trio of Paulinho, Busquets and Rakitic pressed extremely well. Valverde decided to go with just two up top, that to a loosely as Messi often dropped deep, leaving Suarez as the only man forward.

So effectively, it was a 4-5-1 when Barca didn’t have the ball and that got the better of Valencia’s attackers, who rarely troubled ter Stegen in the first half.

The second half, however, saw the hosts press more, thereby isolating the Barcelona midfield. The passing triangles that we saw from the Blaugrana in the first half disappeared in the second. After the goal, the away side went into panic mode and rushed their passes.

Luckily, they had Messi to pick out Alba with a sublime pass to level the scores. Until then, it didn’t seem like they would get anything from the game.

#3 Luis Suarez’s trials and tribulations continue

Oh, Luisito. What must he do? Fitter than the start of the season, he still looked out of sorts and at one point I lost count how many times he was caught offside. AT one point in the second half, I remember him just letting it out on the linesman who was just doing his job.

When he did manage to beat the offside trap, he dwelled on the ball too long and lost the chance to make something happen.

Barcelona don’t have too many options on the bench to replace Suarez against the bigger teams, which sort of shows how badly the transfer window was managed. While they have wingers in Gerard Deulofeu and Denis Suarez, the two aren’t consistent enough, so naturally, Valverde doesn’t trust them to get the job done.

Suarez managed to end his goal drought against Leganes last week, but it doesn’t look like those couple of goals have given him any confidence. If things don’t improve soon, Barcelona should look at signing a good striker in January. If Messi is out for some reason, where will the goals come from?

#2 You just can’t stop Lionel Messi

Alright, this was Messi’s fifth game without a goal in all competitions. That’s a goal-drought we don’t usually get to see often. But then again, when he’s not doing the scoring, he makes sure that he gets everything else right.

Valencia were a compact unit last night and while Barcelona did trouble them with their quick passing in the first half, the second half was lacklustre. Just when it seemed like the winning run was about to end, Messi decided to change gears.

The Barcelona goal came out of nothing. Well, Messi often doesn’t need time, so don’t really be surprised. He decided to drop deep, and play a deft pass for an overlapping Jordi Alba on the left. The pass the brilliant, the finish? Even better. For a fullback to smash home a volley on the run is no mean feat.

The Argentine star played as many as three key passes and had it not been for Suarez’s ineptness in drifting offside, he could have had more assists or even a goal on the night.

#1 Zaza and Rodrigo form quite a combination

The duo were brilliant on the night with their work ethic and decision making in the final third. Rodrigo scored the opening goal and should have had an assist when Valencia broke in the 81st minute.

Rodrigo, with his searing pace, breezed past the Barcelona midfield and his inch-perfect pass was miscontrolled by Goncalo Guedes. On another day, it would have been a clean touch and a goal.

While Rodrigo trouble Barcelona with his pace and trickery, Zaza was a pressing machine on the night. He didn’t have the best passing stats, but boy did he do well to ensure Barca hurried their passes. His physique also allowed Valencia to go long a few times and relieve some pressure, and he did well, winning a couple of aerial duels.

Apart from that, he showed how good his movement was and had the most shots taken on the night. It’s a shame he could convert any of them as he had an in-form ter Stegen to get past.

The Valencia fans will only hope his knee injury isn’t that big an issue in the coming months as the manager had revealed earlier that he might need a surgery to fix it. Valencia need their leading goalscorer fit and firing to ensure they can keep up with Barcelona.

Edited by Aakanksh Sanketh