Barça slip past Valencia, A first minute goal from Luis Suárez and a last-second goal from Lionel Messi saw Barcelona fend off an astute challenge from Valencia, 2-0 on Saturday at the Camp Nou. The victory ensures that Barcelona will keep their lead atop the La Liga table by day's end.
The goal for Messi was a historic one as the Argentine scored his 400th goal for Barcelona in all competitions.
Manager Luis Enrique rotated his squad from the midweek Champions League triumph in Paris by giving starts to Adriano, Jeremy Mathieu and Xavi, plus restoring Claudio Bravo in goal. In front of the Chilean was the aforementioned Adriano and Mathieu, along with Dani Alves and Gerard Piqué. In midfield Xavi was joined by Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets, while in attack the customary trio of Messi, Neymar and Suárez assumed their regular positions.
Barcelona could not have asked for a better start as the hosts scored in the first minute of play. Busquets found Messi and the Argentine did well to shake off a defender, while charging down the middle of the pitch before slipping a pass to Suárez, who then fired in past Diego Alves.
The goal woke up Valencia, who were 3-2 winners at the Camp Nou last season, and it wasn't long before Los Che started to look the better side. Of note was Rodrigo, who had two chances inside the first ten minutes and then earned a penalty in the eighth minute when he was taken down by Piqué in the area. Up stepped Dani Parjeo but Bravo guessed correctly and pounced on the spot kick to retain Barcelona's lead.
But Valencia did not let up in their pressure and again came inches away from scoring in the 33rd minute, only for the post to deny a Paco Alcácer shot. Barcelona did muster up one chance before the halftime break when Xavi headed down for Messi, but the Argentine's shot was off target.
After a frantic first half, the match settled down more in the second half with Barcelona shoring themselves up on the defensive end, while being more assertive in attack, including a beautifully-struck free kick by Messi in the 64th minute that banged off the post.
But Valencia still posed a threat and with a quarter hour left they had another chance through Rodrigo, but his bouncing shot was parried away by Bravo. Pedro then came close to getting an insurance goal for Barcelona late on in the 88th minute, but his sliding shot was blocked by Diego Alves.
That second goal for Barcelona would finally come in the closing seconds as a ball was hoofed up to Messi who first tried to chip Diego Alves, only for that to be blocked, but Messi pounced right on the rebound and pushed the ball home to finish the match off at 2-0.
Barcelona will now shift their attention back to Champions League play on Tuesday at home versus Paris Saint-Germain.
Manager Luis Enrique rotated his squad from the midweek Champions League triumph in Paris by giving starts to Adriano, Jeremy Mathieu and Xavi, plus restoring Claudio Bravo in goal. In front of the Chilean was the aforementioned Adriano and Mathieu, along with Dani Alves and Gerard Piqué. In midfield Xavi was joined by Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets, while in attack the customary trio of Messi, Neymar and Suárez assumed their regular positions.
Barcelona could not have asked for a better start as the hosts scored in the first minute of play. Busquets found Messi and the Argentine did well to shake off a defender, while charging down the middle of the pitch before slipping a pass to Suárez, who then fired in past Diego Alves.
The goal woke up Valencia, who were 3-2 winners at the Camp Nou last season, and it wasn't long before Los Che started to look the better side. Of note was Rodrigo, who had two chances inside the first ten minutes and then earned a penalty in the eighth minute when he was taken down by Piqué in the area. Up stepped Dani Parjeo but Bravo guessed correctly and pounced on the spot kick to retain Barcelona's lead.
But Valencia did not let up in their pressure and again came inches away from scoring in the 33rd minute, only for the post to deny a Paco Alcácer shot. Barcelona did muster up one chance before the halftime break when Xavi headed down for Messi, but the Argentine's shot was off target.
After a frantic first half, the match settled down more in the second half with Barcelona shoring themselves up on the defensive end, while being more assertive in attack, including a beautifully-struck free kick by Messi in the 64th minute that banged off the post.
But Valencia still posed a threat and with a quarter hour left they had another chance through Rodrigo, but his bouncing shot was parried away by Bravo. Pedro then came close to getting an insurance goal for Barcelona late on in the 88th minute, but his sliding shot was blocked by Diego Alves.
That second goal for Barcelona would finally come in the closing seconds as a ball was hoofed up to Messi who first tried to chip Diego Alves, only for that to be blocked, but Messi pounced right on the rebound and pushed the ball home to finish the match off at 2-0.
Barcelona will now shift their attention back to Champions League play on Tuesday at home versus Paris Saint-Germain.
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