FC Barcelona: Peña, Cancelo, Araujo, Koundé, Balde, De Jong, Gündogan (Yamal 81′), Pedri, Raphinha, Félix (Torres 73′), Lewandowski
Bench: Christensen, Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Torres, Astralaga, Yamal, Fermín, Casadó, Kochen, Cubarsí, Guiu and Fort
Goals: 0-1 Félix (55′), 1-1 Guillamon (70′)
After defeats to Girona and Royal Antwerp, Xavi and his players needed to get back on the winning track when they faced Valencia away in the 17th round of the league.
Valencia came close to taking the lead in the 2nd minute when Barca’s defense snored as the home side took a quick throw-in and finished, but Peña pulled off a classy save. Valencia met Barca high on the field and that gave the Catalans a big problem with the play, which didn’t work at all. The ball was quickly thrown away and Valencia dominated the match. Several times there was a build-up to something dangerous in front of Barca’s goal, but nothing was finished.
It took until the 18th minute before Barca had their first serious attempt in the match. Here, Lewandowski finished from distance, but the goalkeeper safely saved the attempt. As time went on, Barca began to work their way into the match better and the home team’s dominance faded. The Catalan game became more goal-oriented and it came close to yielding a result in the 28th minute when Lewandowski finished in flying style with a scissor kick, but the keeper made a difficult save. Great action by the Pole who deserved a better fate.
Barca were now totally on the game and it didn’t take long before they were dangerous again. In the 34th minute, Pedri sent a shot close to the goal and right after Lewandowski was close again when he wanted to lift the ball over the goalkeeper, but it failed. The last minutes of the half were marked by a number of stoppages and some of the teams failed to create anything before the referee blew the whistle for half-time after an even first half.
Barca got off to a good start in the second half, where they started out by creating good opportunities for first Lewandowski and then Gündogan, but without the ball reaching the goal. It did, on the other hand, in the 55th minute, when De Jong beautifully found Raphinha in depth, after which the Brazilian sent the ball into the feet of Félix, who could easily push it into the net. 0-1 after a great attack by Barca. The Catalans controlled the events and Valencia had great problems keeping hold of the ball.
The advantage could have paid dividends in the middle of the half when Raphinha had a hard shot fired away, but the goalkeeper made a great save. Barca looked to be in control of the proceedings, but in the 70th minute the home side turned things around when Guillamon sent a superb shot into the crossbar to make it 1-1. Right after that, Torres came on in place of Felix. Just a minute later, Torres was played free in the box, but his finish was right at the goalkeeper. The match was again completely open and the spectators at the Mestalla saw the possibility of a victory.
The intensity increased and this resulted in a number of free kicks and yellow cards for both sides. With 10 minutes remaining, Xavi went on the offensive when he sent Yamal on for Gündogan. A minute later, Raphinha was sent alone towards goal and it looked like a goal, but the goalkeeper and defense worked together to avert the situation. Valencia seemed content with the one point as they focused mostly on the defensive in the closing stages, while Barca struggled to create anything. It had to go to the referee’s extra time before Barca were able to finish again when Araujo sent a shot wide of the goal. Valencia were put under pressure in the final minutes, but they managed to hold on and thus the match ended 1-1.
