Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points

#1 Zaza and Rodrigo form quite a combination

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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.