Barcelona had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Valencia in the Spanish League match at Camp Nou, Saturday (19/12). Barcelona failed to maintain the advantage in the second half.
Barcelona put Lionel Messi at the forefront and fielded Antoine Griezmann, Pedri, Philippe Coutinho and Martin Braithwaite as four players who supported Messi’s movements.
The pattern did not show good results in the first 30 minutes. The movement of the Barcelona players did not manage to damage the Valencia defense. They just seemed confused by this pattern and couldn’t record a single shot in the first 30 minutes.
On the other hand, Valencia was able to bang on the Barcelona defense and open a shot at goal. Thanks to the brilliant performances of Marc Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona did not concede by Carlos Soler’s shot.
But Barcelona finally conceded by Mouchtar Diakhaby in the 30th minute. Starting from Soler’s corner, Diakhaby managed to escape from Valencia’s back line and headed the ball freely.
Barcelona’s luck in the first half came when they received a penalty after Antoine Griezmann was brought down by Valencia captain Jose Gaya.
Despite having received strong protests from Valencia players, referee Alejandro Hernandez still insisted on giving a penalty. Hernandez only canceled a red card for Gaya and turned it into a yellow card after seeing VAR.
Messi, who became the penalty taker, failed to carry out his duties because his shot was blocked by Valencia goalkeeper Jaume. But the wild ball that rolled was immediately greeted by Jordi Alba’s shot.
The ball hit the Valencia defender and headed towards Messi. Messi in front of the goal headed the ball in and made it 1-1.
Barcelona’s game improved in the second half. Their attacks were sharper than before.
This can be seen from the number of shots fired by Griezmann and his friends. In the 52nd minute, Barcelona turned 2-1 ahead through Ronald Araujo.
The Barcelona center-back helped the attack and fired an acrobatic shot taking advantage of the chaos created by Diakhaby’s mistake.
When Barcelona’s situation was good, they caught off guard and let Valencia score an equalizer in the 69th minute.
Jose Gaya made amends in the first half by breaking through the Barcelona defense and releasing a cross. Maximilliano Gomez’s touch was enough to send the ball into the net without being blocked by Ter Stegen.
Koeman then tried to make substitutions by pulling Griezmann, Coutinho and Pedri sequentially in the last 20 minutes. However, these efforts were fruitless.
Barcelona had to settle for one point against Valencia after the match ended with a 2-2 draw.
