Mestalla runs into the most effective Barça
Xavi’s men thrash Valencia and return to the ‘Champions’ positions
MADRID, 20 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona has offered this Sunday a lesson in punching against Valencia at Mestalla (1-4) to recover fourth position in LaLiga Santander, the last one to access the next Champions League, in a match in which the Barça team he barely struggled and found his best version before traveling to Naples.
In a display of efficiency, Xavi Hernández’s men got the duel back on track, in which whistles were heard for Ferran Torres on his return home, with a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and another goal from Frenkie de Jong at half-time. Carlos Soler, after the restart, closed the gap, but Pedri, with a shell from outside the area, was responsible for ending any hint of doubt.
With this, the culé team forgets the setback of the Catalan derby (2-2) and returns to fourth place in LaLiga, tied on points with Atlético de Madrid (42). In addition, he is full of morale for the second leg of the Europa League ‘Playoff’ against Napoli in San Paolo, which he arrives with a sterile 1-1 from the Camp Nou.
The azulgrana monologue was reflected in a first part in which Aubameyang was in charge of unleashing hostilities against José Bordalás’ men. In the 23rd minute, Jordi Alba saw the Gabonese uncheck and put in a precise cross so that he masterfully defined and scored his first goal as a culé.
The ‘che’ team was not daunted, as they still saw how they reached the goal until a couple of times without a prize. In the first, at 25 minutes, the Madrid braid Del Cerro Grande invalidated Soler’s goal due to Gayà’s previous offside, although it was the 40th minute, when he annulled another goal by the Valencian captain for having gone the ball out of the field to the start of the play the one that annoyed the Mestalla fans the most.
Before, Barça had already taken charge of taking off on the scoreboard. Frenkie de Jong took advantage of an exquisite pass from Ousmane Dembélé to make it 0-2 (min. 32), and Aubameyang completed his double with a goal that had to be reviewed by the VAR to determine that there was no previous offside in the center of Gavi.
After the break, Mamardashvili avoided the Catalans’ fourth by deflecting a shot from Dembélé, and the Valencian parish regained hope when Soler, completely free of a mark, closed the gap with a header that beat Ter Stegen (min. 52) .
However, Pedri cooled down the clash again just three minutes after entering the field of play; Ferran served back before the arrival of the canary, who sent a direct missile to the nets of the local team (min. 63) to put an end to the battle, which definitively opted for the azulgrana side. On Thursday, Naples.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: VALENCIA, 1 – FC BARCELONA, 4 (0-3, at halftime).
–ALIGNMENTS.
VALENCIA: Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Alderete (Cömert, min.85), Diakhaby, Gayà (Lato, min.65); Guillamón (Maxi Gómez, min. 46), Ilaix Moriba (Racic, min. 66), Soler; Hugo Duro (Marcos André, min. 85), Bryan Gil and Guedes.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Eric Garcia (Mingueza, min.46), Jordi Alba; Busquets, Frenkie de Jong (Pedri, min.60), Gavi (Adama, min.81); Dembélé (Nico González, min.71), Ferran Torres and Aubameyang (Luuk de Jong, min.82).
–GOALS:
0-1, min.23: Aubameyang.
0-2, min.32: Frenkie de Jong.
0-3, min.38: Aubameyang.
1-3, min.52: Soler.
1-4, min.63: Pedri.
–REFEREE: Del Cerro Grande (C.Madrileño). He admonished Ilaix Moriba (min.53), Lato (min.76) and Soler (min.77) by Valencia and Jordi Alba (min.35), Araujo (min.56), Nico (min. 72) and Dest (min.93) by FC Barcelona.
–STADIUM: Mestalla. 38,315 spectators.