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It was yet another poor Barcelona performance this week, albeit without the result, as they travelled to the Mestalla and put up another shambolic display against a stern Valencia side who swatted every Barca attack away.
Valencia picked up their first home league win over the Catalans since the 2-0 result they secured in 2007 with the help of David Silva & Co. They were a very neatly arranged side, who sat back and frustrated Barcelona and exploited the fact that there was no physical presence up-top to occupy their center-halves.
They stifled their creative outlets by cutting all passing lanes, and when Barcelona could find a way through, their inability to get a shot on target cost them dearly.
The away side started the game out slow and Pique conceded a poor penalty early in the first half, which was saved heroically by Ter-Stegen. The sides went in level at the half, but it was clearly the home side who came out more eager to get the result.
A Jordi Alba own goal in the early minutes of the second half forced Quique Setien's hand to bring on his Chilean war hog. Messi looked like the only player capable of having a shot on goal before the introduction of Arturo Vidal, who like he has since the beginning of his reign as a Barca player, brought a great deal of urgency and bite to this lacklustre midfield.
Barca tried to score and huffed and puffed for the next 30 or so minutes, but could not find the back of the Valencia net. The home side doubled their advantage with 13 minutes from time as Maxi Gomez got the goal his performance deserved after a brilliant counter attack started by Geoffrey Kondogbia.
This will be a historic result for Valencia, but it's importance in the current scenario is no less significant as it pushes them up to 5th with just a point separating them from the coveted Champions League spots. As for Barcelona, this result means Real Madrid can now pounce and move 3 points ahead if they win their next game against Valladolid.
The following are the hits and flops from this fixture.
Hit: Marc Andre Ter-Stegen
Ter-Stegen is a spectacular athlete and goalkeeper, and he put in yet another timely reminder of that. Being in a team like Barcelona where the expectations are so high, if one Barca player walked away from this match with their reputation unscathed, it was him.
The German showed yet again why he should always be in the conversation for the Top 3 keepers on the planet with his dominant performance in goal, stopping several efforts and a penalty in the first half. He really kept his side in the game for as long as he could, saving effort after effort in the first half, keeping Valencia at bay. He even saved a certain own goal in the first half as the ball was unintentionally turned by Jordi Alba into his own net. (Who was just destined to score against his own side tonight it seems.)
Fingers cannot be pointed at him for either of the goals, as the first was a mean deflection from Jordi Alba's hind side, and the second was a sumptuous counter attack finished expertly by a top marksman in form (more on him later.)
Surely performances like this will all but guarantee him as a starter in the Euros this summer?
Flop: Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique looks done as a top European center back. His legs just don't have it in them to keep up with teams that will break on great pace (not like he was a master against the counter even in his peak, but still) and he looks more suitable to be started in easy home games that come in the build-up for games like this.
He clumsily gave away a penalty in the first half and arguably could have been sent off with just a quarter of the game played.
For most of the first half he looked out of his depth and out of sync with Umtiti, who had to stop several attacks by running into midfield, also earning him his booking for the match. He was also responsible for the second goal as he ran way out of position along with Sergi Roberto, who's another player who looks like a defensive shamble waiting to happen when tracking back.
A terrible night for the decorated Spaniard. Maybe it's time he considers stepping down a level for the good of the team, allowing them to replace him with a player more suitable to the needs of top European and domestic competition.
Hit: Albert Celades
The Valencia manager had it all to do as his side faced the daunting task of hosting Leo Messi & Co. just a week after his side were hammered 4-1 at Mallorca just last Sunday as a follow-up to being knocked out of the Super Cup by Real Madrid.
Valencia are in the Champions League knockout rounds, but only through fortune, and Celades had his men at 8th in the league before this fixture. His credit was running low and he was even booed by a section of his own fans even after his side won their Copa del Rey fixture during the week.
Tonight, he was without his star man and club captain Dani Parejo (also the club's main penalty taker with 5 in 5 this season) who's out with injury, among other absentees.
With a weakened side and his fans about to turn on him, he orchestrated what can best be described as the ideal gameplan to stifle Barcelona, or any team that plays similarly. He set up two blocks of 4 at the back, with just Maxi Gomez and Kevin Gameiro (and later Rodrigo) were the only ones who stayed forward.
They let Barcelona have the ball but didn't let them pass it through their backline, and on the rare occasion it did find it's way through it was swatted away by the defense or the goalkeeper. A tactical masterclass.
Flop: Quique Setien
The former Betis manager's dream is turning into a nightmare as he is unable to get his side to purr like he knows they can. Injuries have surely hindered his ability to field the XI that his system would demand, as was evident with the presence of a 17-year-old in the starting line-up for such a clutch fixture.
His side looked extremely dull while attacking and made a lot of useless passes in the opposition half when they could have just had a go on goal instead. Their needless passing was extremely drab and very unfruitful as Valencia had no problems in just sitting back, absorbing the pressure and countering at full speed when they could.
The absence of Luis Suarez is being felt hard as his team-mates miss his physical presence up-top to ruffle up some feathers in the opposition half while allowing others to play off him.
Barcelona lack a great deal of squad depth when it comes to attack, and Setien will be more than eager to invest in that area of the pitch once summer comes. He's rumoured to be looking for options now, including one of his opponents tonight, Rodrigo Moreno, but it seems unlikely that they'd get a deal done for a top talent in such short time.
Hit: Maximilliano Gomez
Maxi Gomez, after tonight, as scored roughly 27% of his side's goal in La Liga this season. He has had a topsy turvy time since joining from Celta Vigo, but is finally starting to get into his stride in these past few months as he has been crucial in Valencia's hopes of getting in the Champions League again next season.
He was crucial tonight, bullying Pique and Umtiti with his presence in the box and dragging them away from their position, freeing up space for Ferran Torres & Carlos Soler to run in behind the Barcelona defense.
His penalty may have been saved by a defiant Ter-Stegen but he smashed the ball home the second time of asking as he was set up beautifully by Ferran Torres from the right wing, and the German could have done absolutely nothing about this one.
The Uruguayan has shown a great deal of resilience this season, absolutely bullying defenders and being crucial for his side even when he's not scoring. Tonight, his performance showed exactly why Barcelona and other top sides around Europe were vying for his signature last summer.
This man has a great career ahead of him if he can keep putting in consistent displays like this, and it won't be before long that he's leading the line for one of Europe's heavyweights.
