In an early candidate for match of the season, Valencia and Barcelona played to a 2-2 draw at the Mestalla. The match was absolutely enthralling from start to finish, and was a tale of two very different halves. Los Che were absolutely the superior side in the opening 45 minutes, but Pep Guardiola made necessary adjustments to get his team back into the game. Still, Valencia defended well throughout the match while Barcelona missed a couple of big chances, leading to the sides sharing the points.
Valencia Vs. Barcelona Live, 2011 La Liga: Full Time, Lionel Messi, Los Che Left Side Brilliant In Draw
Unai Emery overloaded the left side of his formation in the first half, a maneuver for which Barcelona had no answer. Eric Abidal was drawn out of position and was the man primarily at fault for both of Valencia's goals, putting in an own goal for the opener and failing to mark goal scorer Pablo Hernandez on the second goal.
Between those two goals in the first half was Lionel Messi being Lionel Messi. He was absolutely brilliant as a distributor in this match and set up Pedro's goal in the first half, playing a great through ball into the box for the artist formerly known as Pedrito to finish off.
Emery made a surprising switch to start the second half, bringing on playmaking central midfielder Tino Costa for defensive midfielder and Valencia legend David Albelda. Costa’s impact on the game was minimal, and Emery was perhaps lucky that Ever Banega played one of the best defensive games of his life, especially in the second half.
Pep Guardiola brought on David Villa and Adriano in the 57th minute, but the game really changed after the 63rd minute when he brought on young playmaker Thiago Alcantara for Carles Puyol, moving around some other players in his formation. From that point on, Barca were the demonstrably better side and began to create chances.
Javier Mascherano almost scored an absolute stunner when he hit the crossbar in the 68th minute, while Messi missed a golden opportunity while one-on-one with the keeper just a few minutes later. The little Argentinian would more than redeem himself, though, assisting on Cesc Fabregas's equalizer. The pair have been absolutely stunning for Barcelona so far this season and have instantly struck up some fantastic chemistry, combining for a number of goals already. This one was a chip over the top of the defense by Messi, finding Fabregas who finished one-on-one.
Neither assist was the highlight, though. Instead, Messi’s magnum opus came in stoppage time with quite possibly the greatest pass anyone will ever see. While surrounded by four (four!!!) defenders, Messi played a ball into the path of Xavi that looked like it floated to him on a cloud. The fact that Messi kept the ball while surrounded by four players, saw Xavi through four players, was able to play the ball through four players and that he played it with perfect direction and weight was absolutely mindblowing. Somehow, some way, Xavi missed what would have been the game winner.
Both teams will walk away from the match wondering what might have been, as both could have easily taken three points with one small adjustment or a shot that was six inches in a different direction. Taking that into consideration, a draw is probably the correct result in an early candidate for match of the season.
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