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Messi Keeps Barcelona In Title Race

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Lionel Messi bagged a brace to help keep Barcelona in the LaLiga Santander title mix with a 3-2 win at Valencia on Sunday night at Mestalla.

A scoreless first half gave way to a dramatic second stanza, which started with a Valencia goal but then saw Barcelona answer through a pair of Messi strikes sandwiching an Antoine Griezmann score.

A wonder goal from Carlos Soler gave Los Che hope, but in the end the visitors pocketed the badly needed victory to stay within two points of league leaders Atletico Madrid.

The starting XI for suspended coach Ronald Koeman saw returns for Pedri and Sergino Dest, while Oscar Mingueza was rested, giving Ronald Araujo a start.

Barcelona enjoyed a sharp start and had two golden opportunities to score in the first quarter of an hour, first on a Pedri shot that flashed wide after slick build-up, followed by an Araujo chance off a Messi freekick that former Barcelona backup goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen managed to save.

Valencia were also getting their chances at goal and Uros Racic should have done much better when he latched onto a shot from outside the area after a cutback pass from Jose Gaya.

Valencia were plenty dangerous on the counter attack and they almost broke through at the start of the second half when Guedes was played in, but he could not beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen. However, the subsequent corner kick proved fruitful as a slight slip from Ter Stegen permitted Gabriel Paulista to squirt free and head into goal for a 1-0 Valencia lead.

Barcelona’s title hopes were on the brink with the one-goal deficit, but they would get a slice of luck when an Antonio Lato handball resulted in a penalty. Messi’s spot kick was poorly taken and blocked by Cillessen, but Busquets pounced first on the rebound and eventually Messi was able to clean things up to pull his side level.

The goal was a big lift for Barcelona and soon enough they had a lead when an inch-perfect cross from Jordi Alba found the late-charging Frenkie de Jong, whose initial header was blocked, but Griezmann swooped in to score the rebound.

What followed for Barcelona wasn’t football but rather a work of art off the left boot of Messi. It had been some time since the Argentine had converted a freekick, but he curled the ball over the Valencia wall and banked it in off the post for a 3-1 Barcelona lead.

With the two-goal advantage, Barcelona went to their bench, with Ilaix and Sergi Roberto on for Pedri and Dest respectively.

Valencia weren’t about to go away, though, and a sensational strike from distance from Carlos Soler pulled Los Che back to make for a grandstand finish at Mestalla.

There were some nervy moments for the Barcelona defence in the final minutes, but in the end they managed to hang on to collect a crucial three points and keep themselves in the mix for the LaLiga Santander crown.

Match Sheet:

2.- Valencia: Cillessen; Correia, Paulista, Guillamon (Gameiro, min. 79), Lato (Diakhaby, min. 64), Gaya; Wass, Racic (Oliva, min. 79), Soler; Maxi, Guedes

3.- Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Araujo, Pique, Lenglet; Dest (Sergi Roberto, min. 75), De Jong, Busquets, Pedri (Ilaix, min. 75), Jordi Alba; Griezmann, Messi

Goals: 1-0, min. 50: Gabriel Paulista; 1-1, min. 57: Messi; 1-2, min. 63: Griezmann; 1-3, min. 69: Messi; 2-3, min. 83: Soler

Referee: Sanchez Martinez (Murcia).

Yellow cards: Racic (Min. 35) for Valencia, Lato (Min. 56) for Valencia, Ter Stegen (Min. 65) for Barcelona

Red cards: None

Stadium: Mestalla

Attendance: 0

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