Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: 5 talking points

It was honours even at the Mestalla as Valencia broke Barcelona's six-game winning streak in the last game before Gary Neville took charge of Los Che. Barcelona had taken the lead in the 59th minute when Luis Suarez scored with a solo run. But Valencia fought back and were rewarded in the 86th minute when Santi Mina latched on to Paco Alcacer's pass to equalise. The result sees Barcelona's lead at the top cut to just two points.Here are the 5 major talking points from the game.

#1 Luis Suarez remains imperious

After a smashing a volley home last week, it seems that Luis Suarez is not completely done with scoring beautiful goals. The sole goal for Barcelona today came with the Uruguayan converting a chance at the near post from an incredibly tight angle which would have either been saved or gone wide nine times out of ten.

It goes on to show how much Barcelona needed a quick yet conventional striker to stay relevant once Pep Guardiola’s innovation of Messi as the false nine had run its course. The Uruguayan stays as critical a force as he was with Liverpool, even if it may not be as readily visible.

He continues to show his hunger for big games, stepping up when Messi was injured, scoring the decisive second goal in the Champions League final last year, netting twice in the Clasico two weeks ago, and now drawing first blood in an apparently less important but quality game nevertheless. Equally important is his ability to press as the first line of defence, constantly keeping defenders on his toes.

Real Madrid could probably do with this lesson on spending £75 million effectively.

#2 Barcelona wasteful in attack

The success of the MSN trident lies not just in the number of chances converted, but also in their ruthlessness that is associated with doing the job. The lack of the same remained sadly evident, as Barcelona stumbled again to a quality Spanish opposition.

While the quality of Valencia’s defensive performance was undeniable, it owed partly to Barcelona’s wastefulness in the box, looking to pass to a teammate only to have a move intercepted. The same encouraged Valencia to continue sitting deep and eventually outfox the visitors on the counter-attack.

Lionel Messi, surprisingly, failed to convert at least two brilliant chances, shooting straight at the goalkeeper. The performance may probably have gone on to show that for all of Luis Enrique’s focus on directness in offense, Barcelona are yet to satisfactorily counter the ideology of ‘parking the bus’.

With the Champions League knockouts not being as far as they seem, it would be a concern the manager would look to address at the earliest.

#3 Valencia\'s youth setup continues to impress

Faith in young players, whether developed or bought, has long been a key part of Valencia’s ideology. Aymen Abdennour, bought this year, was subject to interest from Barcelona and Chelsea and has settled in fairly well as a centre-back despite being a full-back by trade. Algerian winger Sofiane Feghouli has stiff competition in the likes of Santi Mina while young Paco Alcacer has been keeping the experienced Alvaro Negredo out on a regular basis.

In Jaume Domenech, a successor to the legendary Santiago Canizares may be developed with due care and Shkodran Mustafi may be subject to a bidding war, not the first Valencia have played auctioneer to, in January. However, the most impressive case is left-back Jose Luis Gaya. A regular in the Spain youth sides and touted as Jordi Alba’s successor, Gaya shows the same penchant for offensive runs and capability down the flank at the tender age of 20.

The presence of Neville, a former full-back himself, will be vital in ironing out his flaws in positioning on defence, and it should not be long before Alba could have serious competition in the Spanish shirt. La Roja fans could be forgiven for bemoaning their luck as recent years have blessed them with talented left-backs while the right-back position has been weak since Michel Salgado retired.

#4 Messi going central?

Though it is not uncommon to see Lionel Messi roam the length of the forward line creating chances, one saw him far more involved than usual centrally, even though he has nominally been deployed on the right. Only Luis Enrique would know if he intends to develop this into a trend, but the arguments in favour of Messi dropping deeper into midfield are pretty solid for now.

Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan will be eligible to play for Barcelona in January and, though Turan can play in the middle, deploying him on the right to complement a similarly aggressive Luis Suarez, with Neymar building on his creative role he has recently perfected, makes sense. It is easy to forget that Messi will be 28 in June, and dropping deep would allow him to prolong his career while letting his creativity run wild.

Additionally, it will allow Barcelona to slowly prepare for life without Andres Iniesta, as had occurred in Xavi’s case by Iniesta abandoning the wing. With the rumored arrival of Paul Pogba gathering steam, Messi seems fair as a creative force, given the Frenchman is closer to Yaya Toure than Iniesta in terms of his approach.

#5 Which Valencia will Neville inherit?

The main question surrounding the fixture was the nature of the challenge Gary Neville has chosen to take up. Was it merely a side in need of fresh energy and new tactical ideas, or one bereft of spirit and having drifted far from the side which made it to the Champions League last year? In reigning league and European champions Barcelona, Neville had the best opportunity to read into the morale of his side before actually taking charge on Sunday.

Valencia showed their trademark discipline in defence, moving quickly to intercept passes in the defensive area, although the centre-back pairing was victim to odd bouts of panic. Given Neville’s experience, having played for fairly long with a pairing as imperious as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it is nothing he cannot remedy. Goalkeeper Jaume Domenech was calm in goal with a standout save from a Messi free-kick a few minutes from time.

More worrisome, though, was their inconsistency in moving the ball forward. Possessing gifted attackers such as Paco Alcacer and Zakaria Bakkali will be of little use if consistent service cannot be arranged. Without tempting fate, it could be argued that recasting another offensively inconsistent side in the classic Manchester United mould could well win Neville an extension beyond his six months, or even allow him to take over at United once Van Gaal leaves in 2017.

To sum it up, Neville’s challenge is more about tactics than morale. The comeback against Barcelona is proof enough of spirit.