Barcelona vs Valencia as it happened: Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar on song in victory over 10 men
Re-live the Liga fixture at the Camp Nou
Barcelona welcome a struggling Valencia side to the Camp Nou on Sunday as the Catalan club play catch-up in La Liga title race.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.- Why Barcelona and Real Madrid's domination of the Champions League could be set to end
- New Chapecoense president reveals Barcelona were the only club to help them after air disaster
- PSG send five-page dossier to Uefa to complain about referee during Barcelona Champions League defeat
- Real Madrid and Barcelona face prospect of three Clásicos in 11 days next month
What time does it start?
The match kicks of at 7.45pm at the Camp Nou.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown on Sky Sports 2, with coverage starting from 7.30pm.
It’s a big game for…
Neymar: Since the Brazilian helped Barcelona to their heroic 6-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain, he has had time to recover and missed the defeat to Deportivo la Coruna last weekend.
Neymar has scored four in his last three starts should be a dominant figure against an indifferent Valencia side.
Weird/best stat…
2: Barcelona have lost just twice in 22 meetings against Valencia, the most recent in April 2016.
Remember when…
The last time Valencia beat Barcelona in the league was early in 2016.
Player to watch…
Diego Alves: Valencia have kept three clean sheets in their last five games, and to stand a chance against a full-powered Barcelona, the Brazilian will need to be on top form. Without him Valencia look a very different proposition in defence.
Past three meetings…
Valencia 2 (El Haddadi, Moreno) Barcelona 3 (Messi 2, Suarez)
La Liga, October 2016
Barcelona 1 (Messi) Valencia 2 (Rakitic og, Mina)
La Liga, April, 2016
Valencia 1 (Negredo) Barcelona 1 (Kaptoum)
Copa del Rey, February 2016
Form guide…
Barcelona: WWWWWL
Valencia: WWLWLD
Odds…
Barcelona to win: 1/9
Valencia to win: 19/1
Draw: 17/2
(Odds provided by 888 Sports)
14 min: Oof, biggest chance so far falls to Lionel Messi but he fails to convert from five yards out.
Suarez spins his man brilliantly at the byline after connecting with Samuel Umtiti's cutting through ball.
He squares the ball and Messi connects but it's cleared before it reaches the line and Alves smothers the rebound.
18 min: It's lively at both ends.
Valencia are denied this time, with Ter Stegen getting down low to turn Carlos Soler's behind.
25 min: Big penalty shout for Barcelona, but the referee's not listening.
Neymar went down in the box under the challenge of Cancelo after being slipped in by Messi's through pass.
Contact minimal, at best.
28 min: Valencia very nearly get some joy out of going route one.
It's a long ball over the top from Alves which finds Munir and has the loanee raching through on goal.
He stumbles before reaching Ter Stegen, however, and only wins a corner.
GOAL! Barcelona 0 Valencia 1 (Mangala)
Boom. And just like that, Barcelona are behind.
The resulting corner is an in-swinger right onto the bonce of Mangala, who sends a thumping header right into the corner of the goal.
Ter Stegen stands and appreciates it fly past him. Wow. Los Che lead.
31 min: Rafinha attempts to make an immediate response but sees his shot from range blocked.
GOAL! Barcelona 1 Valencia 1 (Suarez)
Valencia's lead lasts just six minutes and they only have themselves to blame.
Voro's defence goes to sleep for a few nanoseconds and Suarez pounces.
The Uruguayan latches onto a throw-in that falls behind the defensive live and slotting the ball past Alves.
39 min: Messi free-kick, inches outside the box.
He steps up and sends a powerful effort at goal but cannot keep the ball down.
41 min: Suarez comes a lick of white paint and touch of topspin away from scoring a memorable goal.
He chases a lost cause right to the byline and appears to get a boot to the ball, cutting it past Alves who's attempting to narrow the angle.
He beats Alves and his effort trickles along the goalline, but the ball's judged to have gone out of play.
PENALTY TO BARCELONA!
Mangala pulls Suarez's shirt, the Uruguayan goes down.
Red card for Valencia's goalscorer.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
4Comments