After the midweek Champions League depression, Barca was back to take on Valencia in La Liga.
These three points were necessary, so Barca had to flush their disappointment and focus on winning against Valencia at the Mestalla.
How did Barca fare?
Well, let’s find out.
First half
Like Barca’s first half against Bayern Munich, Barca’s first half against Valencia was rather stagnant and sluggish.
There weren’t many chances created by both sides, but there weren’t any particular defensive lapses from both sides either.
To put it simply, it was an even game with both sides struggling to find their own particular footing.
That didn’t spell any good news for Barca, as their fight to win La Liga is predicated on winnings these type of matches. Well, at least now that their Champions League journey ended prematurely.
As the rest of the half went on, the sluggish play continued. Barca couldn’t find any traction in the attack, which left them scrambling for any sort of danger moving forward.
They didn’t care where it came from, as long as the chance(s) came and allowed them to potentially open the match with a crucial goal of their own.
They received their chance close to halftime, as Robert Lewandowski almost gave Barca the lead in the 42nd minute.
Lewandowski’s header hits the post
Lewandowski got a chance to potentially head home Barca’s first goal of the match.
But his header glanced off the post and out of play.
It wasn’t a clean chance by any means, but it was still a chance to get the all important first goal of the match. After this incident, halftime came quickly.
Barca needed to dive deep into their back of tricks if they wanted to walk away with all three points. Would they be able to do so? Well, let’s just say they potentially did.
Second half
The early portion of the second half was much like the first half.
No consistent threat from either side, no sign of when a team might take control, and a lot of uncertainty regarding who would step on each other’s throat first.
The real action didn’t come until the later stages of the half, when Barca were given two golden chances to take the lead.
Torres misses a sitter
The first chance came in the 85th minute, when Ferran Torres had a golden chance to be Barca’s hero. He received a lovely ball across the face of goal, with nothing but an open net in front of him.
But instead of tapping the goal home, Torres somehow failed to get the shot on target entirely. It appears Torres tried to slot the pass home far post with his right foot. But instead, the ball glanced off his left leg and away from goal entirely.
📸 – FERRAN TORRES MISSES A HUGE CHANCE! pic.twitter.com/aqCv34mh0O
— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) October 29, 2022
It was a devastating miss from Torres, as the goal would’ve surely given him even more confidence after a wondrous few games of form in recent weeks.
Unfortunately for him though, he had to walk back and hope his mistake wouldn’t cost Barca a crucial three points.
Luckily for him, his miss didn’t cost the team, as Barca’s very own Superman saved the day in stoppage time.
Lewandowski saves Barca
Lewandowski has often played the role as Barca’s saving grace many times this season. Scoring goals in crucial moments and keeping Barca from sabotaging itself.
Today was no different, as his stoppage time winner gave Barca another important three points.
This time, it was a slick boot finish that bounced past Valencia’s goalkeeper and into the back of the net. The action came via a scrumptious in swinging cross from Raphinha, who lofted it with just the right amount of pace and lift to give Lewandowski a chance to get a touch on it.
¡EN EL MINUTO 93! ¡Para darle la victoria al @FCBarcelona_es! 💥 Lewandowski, siempre Robert Lewandowski ✨
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) October 29, 2022
¡13 goles en 12 jornadas! ¡ES UN AUTÉNTICO ESCÁNDALO! 🔥#LaLigaEnDAZN ⚽ pic.twitter.com/TJIxqHiffJ
The makings of the play was exquisite and gave Barca the goal they deserved after 10 or so minutes of late pressure in the attack.
With that goal, the match ended, but not after some extracurricular mess near the end.
After that ceased, Barca was finally given the symbolic green light, as the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of a stressful, yet fulfilling match.
Final word
This was by no means a clean match from Barca.
There were concerns that the club was still in disarray, after their Champions League elimination and subsequent thrashing by the hands of Bayern Munich.
For a while, those concerns appeared to be valid.
But in the end, Barca somehow found a way to win and stay on the path of winning a La Liga title. The job isn’t finished yet.
With two more league matches — and one more useless Champions League match — before the winter break, Barca has to keep their foot on the pedal to avoid a disappointing end to the first half of the season.
They’ll begin to do so by getting their next Champions League match out of the way, before taking on Almeria next weekend.
Barca’s next match
Barca’s next match will be on Wednesday against Victoria Plzen, as Barca closes out their Champions League journey.
See you all then!
I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!
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