VALENCIA. FC Barcelona managed to find the solution against Valencia to win 2-1. R. Lewandowski was the key player for his team after scoring 2 goals. It was Valencia to strike first with a goal of Hugo Duro at the 44′. Then it was a goal in the 45′ minute to make things even for 1-1. Eventually, Robert Lewandowski gave the win to FC Barcelona in the 49′ minute with a penalty scoring a double. FC Barcelona was definitely better in terms of ball possession (64%) and that was among the factors of its victory.
The match was played at the Estadio de Mestalla stadium in Valencia on Saturday and it started at 9:30 pm local time. In front of 46,673 spectators. The referee was José María Sánchez Martínez with the assistance of Iñigo Prieto López de Ceraín and Juan José López Mir. The 4th official was Jorge Díaz Escudero. The weather was sky is clear. The temperature was hot at 29.11 degrees Celsius or 84.4 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 53%.
Match Statistics
- ! 36 Ball Possession 64
Shots
- 6 Total 18
- 2 On Target 6
- 3 Off Target 6
- 2 Shots blocked 6
- 58 Attack 114
- 38 Dangerous attack 42
- 73 Ball safe 81
- 0 Penalties 1
- 3 Corners 8
- 7 Off Sides 1
Fouls
- 12 Total 13
- 2 Yellow Cards 3
- 0 Double Yellow 0
- 0 Red Card 0
Other
- 5 Substitutions 5
Ball possession
FC Barcelona was in firm control of the ball 64% while Valencia was struggling with a 36% ball possession.
Attitude and shots
FC Barcelona was more aggressive with 42 dangerous attacks and 18 shots of which 6 were on target. This is one of the reasons why FC Barcelona won the contest.
Valencia shot 6 times, 2 on target, 3 off target. On the opposite side, FC Barcelona shot 18 times, 6 on target, 6 off target.
Cards
Valencia received 3 yellow cards (Jesús Vázquez, Pepelu and Rubén Baraja). On the other side, FC Barcelona received 3 yellow cards (Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé and Pau Cubarsí).
Match Timeline
Standings
After this contest, Valencia stays with 0 points to occupy the 19th place in the standings. Regarding the opposition, FC Barcelona has 3 points (2nd).
Next matches
In the next match in the La Liga, Valencia will play away against Celta de Vigo on the 23rd of August with a 17-10 head to head stats in favor of Valencia (4 draws).
FC Barcelona will host Athletic Club on the 24th of August with a 33-6 head to head in favor of FC Barcelona (12 draws).
Valencia – Formation
Valencia started with a conservative line-up (4-4-2).
The manager Rubén Baraja Vegas decided to play with the following team: Giorgi Mamardashvili , Thierry Correia , Cristhian Mosquera , Yarek Gąsiorowski , Jesús Vázquez , Rafa Mir , Pepelu , Javi Guerra , Diego López , André Almeida and Hugo Duro .
The home team had on the bench: César Tárrega, Cenk Özkacar, Hugo Guillamón , Stole Dimitrievski, Dani Gómez , Alberto Marí, Dimitri Foulquier , David Otorbi , Álex Serra, Martín Tejón , Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Abajas.
Valencia could not rely on the presence of Dimitri Foulquier (injured).
Substitutions
Valencia made 5 changes: André Almeida for Dani Gómez (66′), Diego López for Dimitri Foulquier (66′), Rafa Mir for David Otorbi (77′), Jesús Vázquez for Martín Tejón (77′) and Javi Guerra for Hugo Guillamón (86′).
Player of the match: Diego López
Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Valencia was Diego López.
His rating is with 16 passes (69% accurate) and 3 key passes. He won 1 duel out of 4. He performed 3 crosses.
FC Barcelona – Formation
FC Barcelona started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
Hans-Dieter Flick played with: İlkay Gündoğan, Marc-André ter Stegen , Jules Koundé , Pau Cubarsí , Iñigo Martínez , Alejandro Balde , Marc Bernal , Marc Casadó , Lamine Yamal , Raphinha and Ferran Torres , Robert Lewandowski .
These were the players on the bench: Andreas Christensen , Héctor Fort, Pedri , Iñaki Peña, Pablo Torre, Pau Victor , Eric García , Ander Astralaga, Álex Valle, Gerard Martín and Sergi Domínguez.
FC Barcelona could not rely on the presence of Andreas Christensen (injured).
Substitutions
FC Barcelona made 5 changes: Alejandro Balde for Andreas Christensen (64′), Ferran Torres for Pedri (64′), Pau Cubarsí for Gerard Martín (64′), Marc Bernal for Eric García (71′) and Lamine Yamal for Pau Victor (86′).
Player of the match: Robert Lewandowski
The player that probably impressed the most for FC Barcelona was Robert Lewandowski.
His rating is with 2 goals, 18 passes (83% accurate) and 1 key pass. He won 5 duels out of 11.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the La Liga.