All Bar�a�s football

Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Wednesday, 21 Sep
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Mestalla, Valencia

Resultat:

Valencia CF: 2
FC Barcelona: 2

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

More info

The goals

1-0, Abidal (pp) (min 11)
1-1, Pedro (min 13)
2-1, Pablo (min 23)
2-2, Cesc (min 76)

Vital point in Mestalla (2-2)

Roger Boguny�

Valencia and Barcelona shared the points in a great match at the Mestalla stadium. Valencia were on top in the first half, and led 2-1 at the break, but Guardiola�s team responded in style after half-time, and ended up picking up a vital point.

The top match of the day didn’t disappoint. Valencia and Barcelona fought out a brilliant tactical battle, directed from the bench by Emery and Guardiola, respectively, and finally resolved by the enormous talent of their players. They shared the points, and created a host of chances in both areas. The first half belonged to Valencia, lethal due to Mathieu’s runs and crosses on the left wing, if a bit lucky with the first goal, turned into his own net by Abidal. At half-time it was 2-1, Pedro and Pablo the other scorers.

As ever, no-one could criticise the Bar�a players. They came back from 1-0 down, and again with the score at 2-1, this time via the Messi / Cesc divine connection. Bar�a very nearly won the game at the death, but this time, as opposed to the games against Real Sociedad and Milan, they ended the match pretty satisfied.

An electric start

The game between League leaders and Champions started at full throttle. After only a quarter of an hour, Mestalla had seen two goals, both of them scored by a Bar�a player. The first came from an unlucky �ric Abidal, who turned a Mathieu centre from the left into his own goal, deceiving Valdes, who was coming out to cut out the cross. Own Goal and 1-0 to Valencia. Bar�a’s reaction was immediate. A very short time after kicking off again, Messi threaded a fabulous pass inside the full-back for Pedro, who slid a low shot past Guaita at the near post.

Mathieu, the danger

Soon after Pedro’s equaliser, the referee chose not to give a penalty to Messi, after a crude challenge from Rami, who already had a yellow card. That might have changed the course of the match, because soon after Valencia went in front again after a move very similar to the 1-0. Mathieu, again from the left, put in a low cross that came right through to Pablo who, totally unmarked, deceived Vald�s to make it 2-1 to the home side. The runs down the left by the French full-back were punishing Barca’s 3-man defence, which suffered by not having their usual ball possession.

Mascherano hits the crossbar

Despite going back to a 4-man defence, with Alves dropping to right-back, in the second half, Bar�a were still not comfortable. With half an hour to go, Guardiola chose to bring on Villa, Adriano, and Thiago, and gambled again on a 3-man defence, now made up of Mascherano, Busquets, and Abidal. Bar�a’s best minutes were to come, and a long-range missile from Mascherano smacked the crossbar.

Cesc appears

Valencia, increasingly attentive to the clock, were playing very deep, and Bar�a took advantage, and blockaded them in their own area. A fabulous combination, and we’ve seen several already, between Messi and Cesc, levelled the score at 2-2. Cesc took the pass from Messi, and coolly slotted it past Guaita. Not satisfied with a draw, Bar�a continued t o push forward. The win got away from them in the end, but only just, as Guardiola’s team had a triple opportunity in the 89th minute, that neither Villa, nor Adriano, nor Messi, were able to finish. Bearing in mind how the match went, the point at Valencia is a very good one.

Preview

The toughest league fixture yet

Anna Segura

Mestalla is the venue tonight for a game between Valencia and FC Barcelona (22.00, TV3, LaSexta and R@dio Bar�a). Along with Betis, the teams coached by Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola will be battling for top spot in the league.

FC Barcelona are half way through a marathon run of 7 games in 23 days, and this is perhaps the toughest test of all. They are away to Valencia, where they will hoping to maintain the same amazing form displayed at the weekend against Osasuna. But it won’t be easy against a side that has won every game so far and is joint top of the Liga table.

Lead in sight

Bar�a could be flying back home as league leaders, albeit only provisionally depending on what Betis do against Zaragoza on Thursday. Bar�a are currently two points adrift of Valencia, so three points would be enough to leap frog Wednesday’s opponents.

Top scorers together

It will be interesting to see whether either Messi or Soldado, who lead the Liga scoring at the moment with five goals each, will be able to add to their tallies tonight. However, the Valencian striker took a knock at the weekend, and there are still doubts as to whether he will play any part in the Wednesday night showdown.

Guardiola unbeaten against Valencia

Pep Guardiola is travelling to Mestalla for the fourth time since becoming FCB manager, and with two draws and a win so far, Unai Emery has yet to get the better of the Guardiola in the home fixture against Bar�a.

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Marcador del partit

Resultat:

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Match Report

The goals

Vital point in Mestalla (2-2)

Preview

The toughest league fixture yet

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