Barcelona Extend La Liga Winless Run With Draw At Valencia

By Max Wise

Barcelona extended their 2018/19 La Liga winless run to four consecutive games as they were held 1-1 by Valencia at the Mestalla on Sunday.

Lionel Messi canceled Ezequiel Garay's 2nd-minute opener in the 23rd minute to increase his season's goal tally to six, but Ernesto Valverde's men could not grab the winner for the umpteenth time having drawn 2-2 at home to Girona, lost 2-1 at Leganes and drawn 1-1 at home to Bilbao.

But even more, devastating for Barcelona is that they have surrendered their first position on the league log to Sevilla, who beat Celta Vigo 2-1 on Sunday to go 16 points with just a point and place above Barcelona.

The draw represents Valencia's sixth in eight games and puts them in the 13th position with 9 points as the La Liga goes on break for the nearly two-week international break.

Valencia kicked off the game and did not lose possession of the ball until they shot ahead in the 2nd minute.

Daniel Parejo slipped through a corner kick to Ezequiel Garay, inside the box, and the defender slotted it past goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen.

Michy Batshuayi nearly doubled the lead four minutes later when he beat Gerard Pique and unleashed a thunderbolt from the edge of the box. Marc Andre ter Stegen saw the ball late, but did well to stop it from going into the bottom right corner.

Lionel Messi latched on to a pass in the 23rd minute and controlled it with a good first touch before unleashing a deadly strike from around 20 meters into the bottom right corner.

The ball rebounded out to Jose Gaya in the 39th minute, and the player’s shot from the edge of the box went a whisker wide of the right post, seconds before Denis Cheryshev pulled the trigger after entering the box, but his strike was intercepted to safety.

Luis Suarez received the first booking of the game in the 41st minute, and Carlos Soler followed suit two minutes later with the game’s second yellow card, but Valencia first, as both clubs continued to keep themselves at bay. 

Philippe Coutinho got booked in the 53rd minute for a bad foul, and Daniel Parejo canceled that out for the hosts with a yellow card in the 58th minute, before Coutinho went solo in the 73rd minute but failed to strike until the ball was whisked off his foot by Garay.