Valencia CF Vs. FC Barcelona: 1-0 Full Time, Lionel Messi Goal Gives Blaugranas Victory

The game was in doubt for a good amount of time, but eventually FC Barcelona did what they do, scoring a goal and squeaking out a win, even if they weren’t necessarily at their best. While they weren’t particularly sharp, especially at the start, the Blaugranas were the better team than Valencia for the final 70 minutes of the match and eventually scored a deserved goal to take all three points. Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi was the hero at the end, notching his 27th goal in 26 La Liga games to give his team the victory.

Barcelona started with Pedro on the bench and opted to deploy a team in a 3-5-2 formation. It was a truly odd and unorthodox decision by Pep Guardiola, and at first, it did not have its intended effects. Javier Mascherano was sloppy in the midfield, putting a lot of pressure on the defense, and Valencia had a majority of the possession for the opening 15 minutes of the game.

After their terrible start, Barcelona quickly settled in, though, and were the better side for at least the final 25 minutes of the first half. Messi had the best opportunity of the half, somehow failing to convert three close-range chances, one after another. The first half ended 0-0, but Barcelona went into the locker room with momentum.

Guardiola went to his tried and true 4-3-3 setup in the 63rd minute, bringing on Pedro for Mascherano. Barcelona looked at their best in the spell between this substitution and their goal, leading us to wonder if waiting until the 60th minute to take over the game was Guardiola’s plan all along.

Adriano set up Messi for the goal in the 77th minute, and 14 minutes after Pedro entered the match, Barcelona predictably took a lead that they would hang on to. When the full time whistle blew and the television cameras panned to Guardiola, his face told the whole story. He looked like a man who was entirely relieved that his crazy plan, which could have got him crucified by the media, worked to perfection.