Messi Double Salvages Point For Barca In Thrilling Valencia Clash
3rd February 2019
Ernesto Valverde confirmed after the game his captain had felt a "small problem" but insisted it was nothing serious.
- Lionel Messi scored in a ninth consecutive match but his latest double on Saturday was only enough to earn Barcelona a 2-2 draw against Valencia
- Messi instigated another Barca comeback at the Camp Nou before placing an injury doubt over his availability for Wednesday's Copa del Rey Clasico against Real Madrid
- Kevin Gameiro and Dani Parejo's penalty gave Valencia a surprise two-goal lead but Messi pulled one back with his own spot-kick before curling in a brilliant equaliser with 26 minutes left
BARCELONA, Spain- Lionel Messi scored in a ninth consecutive match but his latest double
on Saturday was only enough to earn Barcelona a 2-2 draw against
Valencia.
Messi instigated
another Barca comeback at the Camp Nou before placing an injury doubt over his
availability for Wednesday's Copa del Rey Clasico against Real Madrid.
Ernesto Valverde
confirmed after the game his captain had felt a "small problem" but
insisted it was nothing serious.
Valverde is still
unlikely to take any risks given Barcelona's testing month ahead, even if
Messi's absence, however brief, would be a blow, particularly while he is in
such irresistible form.
Kevin Gameiro and
Dani Parejo's penalty gave Valencia a surprise two-goal lead but Messi pulled
one back with his own spot-kick before curling in a brilliant equaliser with 26
minutes left.
After their stunning
turn-around against Sevilla in midweek, Barca looked destined again to finish
the job, but at the end of a breathless contest, Valencia had held on for a
point.
READ ALSO: Messi: Sevilla Thrashing Shows Barcelona's Hunger For All 3 Titles
"When you don't
win, you always feel you have missed something," Valverde said. "But
the league is long and there are matches where you come up against a good team.
This was one of those."
- Encouragement for the rest -
Messi's 20th and
21st league goals of the season leave his team six points clear of Atletico
Madrid, who could cut the gap to three by beating Real Betis on Sunday, with
Real Madrid, 11 points back, at home to Alaves.
After eight
consecutive Barcelona wins in La Liga, this result perhaps offered the chasing
pack a little encouragement at least.
Real could inflict
further disruption themselves. The first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on
Wednesday will be the first of three Clasicos in a month. The latter two will
be back-to-back, within four days.
But Messi fit and in
this sort of form means any confidence Real feel comes with an asterisk.
His 12 goals in his
last nine games is the same number the whole Valencia squad managed in their
first 15 league matches. Valencia were 15th in December, with only three wins,
and their coach Marcelino was under pressure, just six months after propelling
them back into the Champions League.
READ ALSO: Denis Suarez Joins Arsenal On Loan From FC Barcelona
The club kept faith
and results have improved. They have now lost only one of their last seven
matches and are within sight of the top four.
Valencia deserved
their first-half lead and could have scored sooner, Parejo drawing a smart save
from Marc-Andre ter Stegen before Denis Cheryshev lashed the rebound off the
far post.
The visitors rode
their luck as two decisions went their way in a matter of minutes. First, Barca
could have had a penalty when Gabriel Paulista blocked Nelson Semedo's shot
with his hand.
Then the home team
should have had a free-kick as Messi was bundled over by Parejo. The latter
proved key, with Valencia sprawling forward on the counter-attack.
Rodrigo carried the
ball 40 yards before slipping a cute reverse pass behind Vermaelen and Gameiro
banged in the finish.
Valencia's penalty
was clear after Sergi shoved Daniel Wass in the back, with Parejo whipping the
ball into the corner to make it two.
Barca looked
shell-shocked but the third goal in 15 minutes was theirs. Semedo beat Toni
Lato to Arturo Vidal's pass and tumbled after a clip on his shin. Messi slammed
the loose ball into the top corner but the whistle had blown. He rolled in the
penalty instead.
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Sergi's shot crashed
against the post and Barca were dominant after half-time. At the other end, on
a rare Valencia break, Rodrigo should have made it three but, on the stretch,
put it over from six yards.
That was in the 63rd
minute, and in the 64th, Barcelona were level. Vidal teed up Messi, who teed up
his own left foot and curled the ball inside the post.
The teams, and the
crowd, seemed to take a breath, in anticipation of a late push, but it never
came. The draw was a fair result.