Valencia cause big problems for Barcelona Valencia vs Barcelona Setien suffers first defeat

A Jordi Alba own goal and a Maxi Gomez strike earned Valencia a deserved 2-0 victory over Barcelona on Saturday afternoon at Mestalla.

The result marks the first defeat in the Quique Setien era at Barcelona, and it is sure to prompt more talk of the need for a No.9 at the Camp Nou after another frustrating performance in attack.

But much of the credit should go to Los Che, whose defensive display was impeccable, especially when dealing with Lionel Messi as they all but took away Messi's left foot in the Valencia area.

Setien's second league match at the helm of the Catalan club saw the new boss use a midfield trio of Frenkie de Jong, Arthur Melo and Sergio Busquets, while Ansu Fati was once again deployed as a right wing-back with Jordi Alba on the other side. The front two was formed of Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi.

Barcelona got into trouble early when Gerard Pique clattered into Jose Gaya in the area. With Dani Parejo out due to suspension, penalty duties fell to Maxi Gomez, but the Uruguayan could not beat Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who guessed correctly and made a diving save to his left.

Pique found himself in a mess minutes later when a headed clearance from Sergi Roberto struck the leg of centre-back, however Ter Stegen was alert and smothered up the goal-bound effort.

For all the pinging around and possession, Barcelona's attack was generating nothing, evoking images of the first fruitless 70 minutes in the midweek Copa del Rey win at Segunda Division B outfit Ibiza.

At the other end, when Valencia got forward, they had Barcelona rocking on their heels, and Maxi Gomez was dreadfully unlucky to see his stinging right-footed effort deflected by Ter Stegen onto the post and out. The follow-up eventually found Kevin Gameiro, who didn't get the best of shots off, but it still forced Ter Stegen to stretch to parry wide.

Barcelona's misery continued into the second half and finally Valencia made them pay when a Maxi Gomez shot from the right deflected off the side of Alba, leaving Ter Stegen wrong-footed and helpless as the ball rippled the net for a 1-0 lead.

A spark was needed, so Arturo Vidal was summoned off the bench to replace Arthur and immediately Barcelona were better, with Messi getting several good cracks at goal, including a free header that spun wide.

Valencia's biggest worry came when Ezequiel Garay took down Griezmann just outside the area, setting up Messi with a free-kick, yet Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech was on his toes, pawing the Argentine's effort wide.

Valencia had absorbed Barcelona's best punches and began to find space in the opposing half, which led to the second goal of the night as Ferran Torres found Maxi Gomez in acres of space and the Uruguayan's shot curled into net for a 2-0 advantage.

Setien made his final two changes late, with Ivan Rakitic on for De Jong and Alex Collado replacing Ansu Fati, but on this day, none of it made a difference and Valencia calmly saw things out to pocket the three points.

Match Sheet:

2.- Valencia: Jaume; Wass, Garay, Paulista, Gaya; Kondogbia, Coquelin, Ferran, Soler (Sobrino, min. 89); Gameiro (Rodrigo, min. 59), Maxi (Jaume Costa, min. 80).

0.- Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Arthur (Vidal, min. 56), De Jong (Rakitic, min. 85); Messi, Ansu Fati (Collado, min. 85), Griezmann.

Goals: 1-0, min. 48: Jordi Alba (og); 2-0, min. 77: Maxi Gomez.

Referee: Gil Manzano (Extremadura).

Yellow cards: Pique (Min. 10) for Barcelona, Umtiti (Min. 43) for Barcelona, Coquelin (Min. 53) for Valencia.

Red cards: None.

Stadium: Mestalla.

Attendance: 45,882.