In the "La Liga" championship of Spain, four matches of the 9th round were played on Saturday.
At the "Mestalla" stadium, "Valencia" clashed with "Barcelona". The "Bats" were close to taking points from the defending champions, but a penalty kick at the end of the match determined Barcelona's victory with a score of 3-2.
The match for the visitors from Barcelona did not start very successfully - in the 14th minute, Andres Iniesta suffered an injury and had to leave the field on a stretcher. Preliminary information suggests that the Spaniard may have torn ligaments and could be forced to miss three months without football.
Nevertheless, "Barca" did not falter after their captain's injury and in the 22nd minute, Lionel Messi defeated Diego Alves with a great shot. Neither team scored any more goals during the remainder of the first half, so the entire battle moved to the next 45 minutes.
The second half went well for the hosts - in the 52nd minute, Munir El Haddadi punished his former team, and just four minutes later, Rodrigo, after a fantastic pass from Nani, put Valencia ahead 2-1.
Unfortunately, the hosts did not enjoy their advantage for long and in the 62nd minute, Luis Suarez equalized the score. Valencia's team managed to successfully withstand the attacks of the visitors until the end of the match, but a mistake by Aymen Abdennour in the penalty area cost the hosts points.
Referee Undiano awarded a penalty kick, which was converted by L. Messi. After the goal, the Catalans faced dissatisfaction from the home fans, when a plastic bottle was thrown at the celebrating "blaugrana" players.
After the victory, "Barcelona" rose to the first place, but after the victories of "Atletico", "Real" and "Sevilla", the Catalans could still drop to fourth position.
In other matches, Barcelona's "Espanyol" overturned a three-goal deficit and drew 3-3 against "Eibar", while San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" defeated "Deportivo Alaves".
Results:
"Valencia" 2 - 3 "Barcelona"
22' [0 - 1] L. Messi
52' [1 - 1] M. El Haddadi
56' [2 - 1] Rodrigo
62' [2 - 2] L. Suarez
90+4' [2 - 3] L. Messi (penalty)
"Espanyol" 3 - 3 "Eibar"
23' [0 - 1] S. Enrich
27' [0 - 2] D. Reyes (own goal)
44' [0 - 3] Kike
64' [1 - 3] H. Perez
73' [2 - 3] P. Piatti
90+2' [3 - 3] L. Baptistao
84' F. Caicedo ( "Espanyol") sent off from the field
"Real Sociedad" 3 - 0 "Alaves"
22' [1 - 0] X. Prieto
57' [2 - 0] W. Jose
87' [3 - 0] C. Vela
"Granada" 0 - 0 "Sporting Gijon"
Standings:
