Barcelona 1-0 Real Valladolid: Messi penalty the difference in off-colour performance
Barça got back to winning ways but didn't play very well on Saturday
Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot to earn Barcelona a narrow win over Real Valladolid to end a run of three consecutive draws.
FCB
1 ________________ 0
VALL
LINE UP
Barcelona
Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Vermaelen, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Arturo Vidal, Aleñá (Rakitic, 75'); Messi, Boateng (Luis Suárez, 59'') y Dembélé (Coutinho, 69').
Valladolid
Masip; Joaquín, Kiko Olivas, Calero; Antoñito, Anuar Verde (Toni Villa, 67') (Stiven Plaza, 75'), Michel Nacho; Guardiola y Enes Ünal (Keko, 78').
Gol
1-0 M.42 Messi, de penalti.
Árbitro
Martínez Munuera (Valenciano). TA: Enes Ünal (10'), Anuar (33'), Messi (66'), Michel (69').
Incidencias
Partido de la jornada 24 de LalIga Santander disputado en el Camp Nou ante 67.435 espeectadores.
Messi fired home just before halftime after Gerard Pique was fouled but he missed a second penalty as Barca missed a hatful of chances to kill the game off.
Former Barca goalkeeper Jordi Masip made save after save to keep Valladolid in the game right until the end.
Masip made a stunning reaction save from Messi at the start of the second half and then kept out Kevin Prince Boateng, who started to allow Luis Suarez a break, when he tried to go round him.
There were two more saves from Suarez in the final half an hour and a penalty stop from Messi after substitute Philippe Coutinho was brought down.
In the end, Barca had to make do with a slender one-goal win and they will now embark on a run of four away games, starting with Lyon in the Champions League in Tuesday.
They then travel to Sevilla in the league before back-to-back games at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid, first in the cup and then in the league.
The good news is Ousmane Dembele is back, he completed 70 minutes against Valladolid, and Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Philippe Coutinho only played the latter stages of the game, so should be fresh.
Messi, too, improved as the game went on, although his performance wasn't his best overall. But he does look over his thigh problem.
