A gripping contest at Camp Nou saw Barcelona recover from an early two-goal deficit to claim a point against visitors Valencia.
Match Reports
Lionel Messi scored twice as champions Barcelona fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday.
The Blaugrana captain was in inspired form after it looked as though Ernesto Valverde's call to shuffle his pack would see his side come away empty-handed as they deservedly trailed to efforts from Kevin Gameiro and Daniel Parejo.
The league leaders rallied and Messi scored either side of half-time to clinch a point in a match packed with incident.
Barca's talisman subsequently required treatment for an apparent thigh ailment, but he returned to see out the 90 minutes as his side fell short of completing the turnaround and claiming all three points.
Match Events
24' GOAL! Barcelona 0-1 Valencia (Gameiro)
Goal! Barcelona 0, Valencia 1. Kevin Gameiro (Valencia) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Rodrigo Moreno with a through ball following a fast break.
32' Penalty Goal! Barcelona 0-2 Valencia (Parejo)
GOOOAAALLL!!! BARCELONA 0-2 VALENCIA! Parejo, who has come close on a couple of occasions already today, converts past Ter Stegen from the penalty spot to double the visitors' tally.
39' Penalty Goal! Barcelona 1-2 Valencia (Messi)
GOOOAAALLL!!! BARCELONA 1-2 VALENCIA! Messi sends Neto the wrong way from the penalty spot and Barcelona are right back in the match. Valencia's players are unhappy that the penalty was awarded but, after a VAR check, the referee was happy for it to stand.
64' GOAL! Barcelona 2-2 Valencia (Messi)
GOOOAAALLL!!! BARCELONA 2-2 VALENCIA! Messi scores his second goal of the game to drag Barcelona back on level terms! Vidal flicks a loose ball into his team-mate's path and the Argentina forward catches out Neto by taking on the strike early, curling it into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Match Ratings
Line-ups
Barcelona XI: L. Messi, T. Vermaelen, L. Suárez, Piqué, I. Rakitić, Vidal, Philippe Coutinho, M. ter Stegen, S.Roberto, Semedo, Carles Aleñá
Subs: Prince, Jordi Alba, Jeison Murillo, Lenglet, Arthur, Malcom, Iñaki Peña
Valencia XI: Garay, Gameiro, D.Wass, Parejo, Coquelin, Neto, Rodrigo, Gabriel, D. Cheryshev, Cristiano Piccini, T.Lato
Subs: Roncaglia, Kondogbia, Jaume Doménech, Mina, C.Soler, Ferrán Torres, Lee Kang-In
Boboprz
414
Velverde is always having player rotation wrong. Does he really rotate for the sake of it or he attaches tactical importance to such rotations. He is quite a poor coach with player rotation and he is so far yet to convince some of us about his caliber as a coach. He is always being saved by Messi.
FreeAgent10
377
We had this to break
Messigician9703
352
Weird celebration but ok
KiDaBoots
322
Great match with no Barça players to blame. The only reason we didn't win is because of the outsanding performances from Daniel Parejo and the Valencian goalkeeper Neno.
kaaskip
291
What was this referee doing?! It should have been at least 4 minutes extra time! Neto on his own held the ball for 5 minutes! And 5 substitutes and the injurys!
AryanSharma
276
Honestly it was a good result cause Valencia played very well especially parejo and barca played loose in starting minutes and messi scored a brace but was not good missed chances and dribbles and defence was very loose too!! but good result as per performance! ForcaBarca!!
Shridharrai
257
brilliant perfomance by Valencia defencively....Spclly from the captain parejo nd gk neto...these 2 are outstanding for valencia..we cant blame any barca players today....bcoz all had played a vry good game.....nd the GOAT was just outstanding ....with that goal..
Nesaiknruy_Legend
232
Messi FC takes one again.... Imagine it Messi got injured for half a season. Atletico would probably win the league...
Mosanya
231
In the second half Barcelona was playing well after Messi scored everyone was playing well but we can’t always be depending on Messi it’s a team sport not just a one man game. We’re still having problems with our defense they aren’t organized when it comes to teams pressing us. Valverde isn’t getting the best out of everyone I don’t know what he’s telling te players in the dressing room but certainly it isn’t helping by seeing the lack of motivation by the team.
footballfanatic7298
214
those who are calling it was all messi didn't watch the game. it was a decent performance, Alena played quite well and people got well deserved rest. Valencia deserved a point, they maintained shape and worked hard despite clear physical fatigue
Williej
202
the first half of the match wasn't impressive but the second half was fantastic, Messi control on that second goal truly deserves the applaud he got. Alba came in the second half and did what he does best, unfortunately his effort were futile. Even Coutihno did well. to round it off. the goat came through for us once again. let's hope that the injury Messi picked up isn't a serious one. we still have some tough matches ahead.
Zesbdeiloz
185
That Wasn't a Penalty for Valencia and there was also a foul on Messi before Valencia's first goal. The referee was bad. Else Barca could have won the match 2-0
keneiklmrt
167
Messi always outstanding no doubt abt that but i think everyone played well just our defence need to be organized...not taking anything away from Valencia they played well and their goalie was outstanding
osdel
75
poor Semedo; never gets credit for his brilliance. good game though. a competitive match
nakkmorsuy
74
Difference between juventus match and barcelona was this- 1) barcelona = if they got couple more minutes to play, they would win a game. 2) juventus: if they got couple more minutes to play, they would surely absolutely lose the game.
SongTaiwo17
73
The rivalry continues, till Tottenham finally wins a trophy!!! 😳😳🇦🇷😮😮🇵🇹😂😂
Manikho
44
StevenJames0098
40
This is to really show how much Barcelona really depends on Messi.If Barcelona plans to win Champions League this season,they have to find a way to stop always depending on Messi because if Messi doesn't play well, Barcelona will pay the price.
Huebdmu
31
Player rotations is necessary especially at this stage of the season unfortunately those players who are given such opportunities have not utilised the chances effectively, there's little the manager can do. It's not rocket science,Barcelona has tight match fixtures in February just log in their website you will understand. The players who complain of warming the bench most of the time should step up when such opportunities arise.
CristoJosep
27
SACK VALVERDE.USLESS LINE,ALENA NOT AT LEVEL FOR BIG MATCH.VIDAL UNVISIBLE.VERMELEN TRY TO CATCH OFFSIDE TRAP INSTEAD FOLLOW THE ATACKER.SERGI NO WORD.SUAREZ IS ONLY ONE WHO NEED REST.WHY LOAN PRINCE?FOR BACKUP SUAREZ.TODAY WAS VALVERDES BLAME FOR LOST 3PTS.FROM BEGINING VALVERDES MOST WEAK SPOT IS SUBS.AND WILL REMAIN SO.ARTHUR IS YOUNG WHY HE NEED REST.MESSI WAS PLAYING FOR YEARS WITHOUT REST AND BEING AT TOP LEVEL CONSTANTLY.RESTING YOUNG PLAYERS IS MAKING THEM OUT OF FORM.YOUNG PLAYERS MUST PLAY .REST VIDAL TILL SEASON END.ARTHUR MELLO CAN PLAY ALL MATCHES.AND REFEREE BETTER NOT SAYING ANYTHING.SACK VALVERDE AND THAT'S IT.