Lionel Messi led Barcelona’s onslaught with four goals against an unimpressive Valencia who were consigned to an embarrassing La Liga defeat at the Camp Nou.
In a replay of the match played at the Mestalla, Valencia took the lead but that is as far as the comparisons go. Los Che gave a good account of their defensive abilities in the match at the Mestalla, but failed to match Barcelona players at the Camp
Nou, being pegged in their own half for the duration of the match.
Pablo Piatti’s 9th minute goal was the highlight for Los Che who saw http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629 in the Pichichi race.
Spanish international, Xavi Hernandez, hammered the final nail in Valencia’s coffin, taking advantage of a mix-up at the back and chipping the ball into an empty net during stoppage time.
After the match, Valencia coach, Unai Emery, accepted defeat against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 and stated that he did not have any complaints in the 5-1 drubbing.
However, the former Real Sociedad player reflected his anguish at the poor performance by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 players. The 40-year-old manager labelled the defeat as Los Che’s worst of the season, where they were arguably outclassed by the reigning European and
Spanish champions.
"We had a bad game," the Valencia boss said while talking to Spanish sports daily, AS. "It's a painful defeat because we have been so inferior."
"On other days we have played good games; today was quite the opposite.”
"It's not whether it was humiliating or not; it's just that they were far superior. We were at their mercy.”
"We saw the best version of Barcelona and one of the worst versions of Valencia. Clearly we were poles apart."
With Ever Banega ruled out for the rest of the season, Los Che could not have hoped for a worse day on their travels. Emery hopes that the tenacious Argentinean midfielder recovers soon.
After their La Liga adventures, Valencia return their focus to Europa League as they host Stoke in midweek at the Mestalla.
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