In this column, Xoel Càrdenas gives you his take on FC Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Valencia on Saturday night. Xoel talks Neymar's great performance, Lionel Messi's off night, and Luis Suarez still scoring goals.
VALENCIA — FC Barcelona dropped points at Mestalla, as El Blaugrana split the points with Valencia in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
Lionel Messi had the first chance at goal in the fifth minute, but his attempt went just over the bar. Neymar had a shot just two minutes later, but his shot went high as well. In the early minutes, Barcelona pressed and had several chances to take a shot inside the box, but was unable to find the back of the net. Messi had another great chance in the 26th minute, but his shot from point-blank range goes straight into the arms of Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech. Luis Suarez had a chance via the volley in the 34th minute, but his shot seemed to be deflected and went wide. Suarez had the ball on a break just a minute later, but the Uruguayan didn't feed Neymar in time and missed a clear chance for a goal.
http://pic.twitter.com/SFNZkNGNI6
— QLSCH (@PeriodistasAnon) December 5, 2015
Jordi Alba nearly found Suarez in the 40th minute, but Valencia's Aderlan Santos was there to deflect Alba's low cross into the box.
Suarez made it 1-0 in the 59th minute, as El Pistolero made an incredible run toward net. Luis was able to fight off Valencia's Abdennour, and then somehow beat Domenech for the golazo. Upon replay, it looked like Luis may have been a foot offside. Nevertheless, the goal was give to make it 1-0.
GOOOL SUAREZ!! #genius http://pic.twitter.com/2wKBqPweI6
— FCB (@Emenderk) December 5, 2015
Pase de Leo y por el único hueco que había define Suárez http://pic.twitter.com/i6kaPkSFwC
— FCB (@Emenderk) December 5, 2015
Sergi Roberto liked what he saw.
Siiiiiiii @LuisSuarez9 !!!!! Força Barça !
— Sergi Roberto (@SergiRoberto10) December 5, 2015
Rodrigo had a great shot at a goal for Valencia in the 19th minute, but Claudio Bravo was there to make the save. Santi Mina made it 1-1 in the 86th minute, as a Valencia break led to the equalizer. Great play by Paco Alcacer with the control and finding his teammate for the goal.
Messi had a chance in the first minute of extra time, but his weak shot went straight to the keeper's hands.
It was a frustrating night in Valencia, but that's always expected. Credit to Los Che for grinding out the draw.
FT: Valencia 1-1 FC Barcelona
Xoel's Take
What makes the draw frustrating for most is the fact that Barcelona had plenty of opportunities to finish off Valencia early. Nights like this happen in football, and for Barcelona, it happened in one of the toughest places to play at: Mestalla.
This was arguably Neymar's best overall match for Barcelona this season. The Brazilian set-up his teammates with great crosses and passes throughout the night. It must have been very frustrating for Neymar to see so many of his chances created.
and SEE YOU LATER... http://pic.twitter.com/F0kwxBJAEw
— A7TM (@FCBarcelona_A7) December 5, 2015
http://pic.twitter.com/Ip31mFNAVg
— FCB (@Emenderk) December 5, 2015
Lionel Messi was off against Valencia. The miss in the first half was an indicator of what would occur throughout the match for Leo. While he did give the assist to Suarez on the lone Barcelona goal, it doesn't compensate for the fact that Messi was not the Messi we're accustomed to seeing. I don't think it's something to worry about. It happens and we can't realistically expect Leo to be D10S every match. Once in a while, a night like this occurs.
El Barcelona todavía necesita al mejor Messi http://pic.twitter.com/hZajBrkIaN
— Fútbol de España (@SpainFutbol_) December 5, 2015
Dani Alves continues to play at a high level, while Javier Mascherano had a poor match. But other than Masche and the lack of finishing, there wasn't too much to complain about. Barcelona controlled the match, but just couldn't finish the match. I hope Luis Enrique talks to his players about controlling their focus after they take a lead. It felt like after Suarez's goal, Barcelona got a bit too comfortable. This is Mestalla; never get comfortable there.
Another match, another Luis Suarez goal. While he didn't have a signature performance, overall, he did have a signature goal. According to Opta, Suarez has scored in his last seven appearances for Barcelona in Liga action, scoring 10 goals. Overall, Suarez has scored in eight matches in a row, scoring 13 goals in said eight matches. Luis has 19 goals in 22 matches this season. Via @Barca19Stats: Suarez is 6th Barcelona player ever to score in 7 consecutive Liga rounds, after Messi, Martin, Cesar, Kubala and Cruyff.
Unstoppable Luis!
ON FIRE Suárez - 8 partits consecutius marcant - 13 gols en aquests 8 partits - 19 gols en 22 partits a la temporada http://pic.twitter.com/XPk1NjsWih
— LaTdP (@LaTdP) December 5, 2015
A frustrating night for FC Barcelona, but it mainly wasn't because of what the opponent did. It was because of what Barcelona didn't do. While the draw is frustrating, let's not begin to panic. As mentioned, a draw at the Mestalla isn't a bad result. Yes, Barcelona could have had more, but it was their fault that the three points were not earned.
Give credit to Valencia, learn from this draw, and finish, finish, finish!
Still leaders, still playing well, still will get better — especially once January hits.
Som-hi!
Xoel
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