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Barcelona will host Valencia at the Camp Nou on Saturday in the LaLiga matchday 4 fixture and both sides would be seeking to get all three points to inject life into a fledgling campaign thus far.
The two teams have posted identical results from their three LaLiga games, and have garnered four points from a possible nine, with Barcelona occupying the 8th spot on the table while Valencia are further down in the 10th position.
Recent history favours Valencia, as Los Che defeated the Blaugrana in their latest clash, with a 2-1 victory in the 2019 Copa del Rey final to win their first trophy in over a decade.
This clash is one of the more marquee fixtures on every LaLiga season calendar and history tends to repeat itself in such matches. Hence, with this in mind, we shall have a rundown of what transpired in the last three fixtures between both sides in all competitions.
Barcelona 1-2 Valencia - May 25, 2019 | Copa del Rey final
This was the most recent meeting between both sides and it saw Valencia defeat their more illustrious hosts 2-1 to win their 8th Copa title at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in Betis, Seville.
Barcelona came into the clash having already successfully defended their LaLiga crown, but were smarting from their embarrassing elimination at the hands of Liverpool in the Champions League.
Despite lacking the services of Luis Suarez who was ruled out with an injury, Barcelona still had more than enough quality players within their ranks and were heavily installed as favorites to win their fifth Copa del Rey title on the bounce and add to their record extending 30 wins in Spain's cup competition.
The match started with Valencia on the ascendancy, with Rodri seeing his goalbound shot cleared off the line by a retreating Clement Lenglet.
Marcelino's men's early pressure soon paid off however, as a crossfield ball to Jose Gaya in the 21st minute was squared for Kevin Gameiro and the former Sevilla man showed great composure to skip past a Jordi Alba challenge before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net past Jasper Cillensen.
Valencia saw their lead doubled just 12 minutes later, as Carlos Soler embarked on a brilliant run down the right flank past Jordi Alba, before putting in a well timed cross for Rodrigo to head in.
Ernesto Valverde made some tactical switches at the break, bringing off Arthur and Nelson Semedo for Malcom and Arturo Vidal respectively.
Both sides traded punches immediately after the restart and forced the opposition goalkeepers into saves, with Lionel Messi hitting the post from an acute angle after wriggling his way through the Valencia defense.
The Argentine international soon halved Valencia's lead, after he reacted fastest to a Clement Lenglet header which came off the frame of the post, but all of Barcelona's efforts to force an equalizer late in the game proved abortive.
Barcelona 2-2 Valencia - February 2, 2019 | LaLiga 2018/2019
Barcelona came into this clash on matchday 22 as runaway league leaders and were seeking to further put daylight between them and the chasing pack, while Valencia had just started their bounce back after their slump in the middle of the campaign.
The visitors also started this game on the front foot, with captain Dani Parejo forcing Ter Stegen into a save before Denis Cheryshev hit the post on the rebound.
Valencia soon raced into an early two goal lead, as Kevin Gameiro put them ahead inside the 24 minutes, with Rodrigo playing him in with a pristine through ball after a devastating counter, before Dani Parejo slotted home from the spot just 12 minutes later.
The referee once again pointed to the spot but this time for the home side after Samuel Umtiti was fouled in the penalty box and who else but Lionel Messi stepped up, leaving Neto rooted to the spot.
Sergi Roberto struck the post as Barcelona ended the first half very much in control of proceedings.
The second half begun in pretty much the same fashion with Lionel Messi forcing Neto into a diving save. It was all Barcelona from then on, with Sergi Roberto once again hitting the post although Rodrigo found himself one-on-one with Ter Stegen, but the German did well to save his shot.
Lionel Messi however had the last laugh, scoring a trademark left footed curler into the bottom left corner to make sure both sides shared the spoils in what was an absolutely enthralling game.
Valencia 1-1 Barcelona - October 7, 2018 | LaLiga 2018/2019
Valencia hosted Barcelona on matchday 8 of last season, and were the form side of the two, having won their last three matches on the bounce.
Once again, Los Che raced into a lead as early as the third minute when Ezequiel Garay tapped home a Kondogbia headed flick from a Parejo corner.
Soon after, Michy Batshuayi dragged his shot narrowly wide after some intricate play by the hosts in Barcelona's box.
Lionel Messi embarked on a mazy run, before a one-two with Luis Suarez set him up excellently to level matters for Barcelona in the 27th minute.
From then on, it became a bit of a tactical affair, as both sides traded chess moves without drawing blood.
