Valencia 1-1 Barcelona (16 Dec, 2023) Game Analysis،
Valencia fought back to snatch a 1-1 home draw against Barcelona in their La Liga clash on Saturday – a result which will do nothing to ease the pressure on Xavi Hernandez's side, winless in their last three games all competitions combined.
Barcelona looked nervous and erratic despite dominating the ball, having traveled to Valencia on the back of two defeats in four days – a 4-2 home defeat to La Liga leaders and local rivals Girona on Sunday, followed by a 3-2 defeat in the Champions League on Wednesday in Group H, down side Antwerp.
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But Barca ran into an almost impenetrable wall in Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who produced a series of exceptional saves to keep the visitors at bay.
Striker Robert Lewandowski was often frustrated up front, sometimes by Mamardashvili, who made two brilliant reflex saves from close range to deny the Polish striker, but also by his own play, missing three times from close range in the first half .
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Valencia held on as best they could with Barcelona in the lead after the break, with the Georgian goalkeeper producing another incredible one-on-one save from substitute Ferran Torres.
João Félix finally opened the scoring in the 55th minute with a point-blank shot, tapping in a cross from Raphinha.
However, Valencia took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself and equalized 15 minutes later thanks to a superb curling shot from the edge of the area by Hugo Guillamón into the left corner.
Barca tried to press late for a winner, but Mamardashvili made two more saves as the home side held on for a valuable point.
In football, when you lose so many opportunities, these things happen. We deserved to win. We played very well and did what we had to do to win the match,” a frustrated Xavi told Movistar Plus.
“We need to be a lot more convincing in the opponent's box. I think we lost two points. We took a point which leaves us very dissatisfied.”
Barca are third in the La Liga table with 35 points, four behind second-placed Real Madrid and six ahead of leaders Girona, both with a game in hand.
