Luis Enrique decided to make the most of his sides 7-0 first leg advantage last night by resting the majority of his usual starting eleven. He included 5 B team players in his 18 man squad along with under 19 player Carles Aleñà. Bravo, Piqué, Sergio, Alves, Arda, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Neymar, Mascherano and Alba were all excluded from the squad.
Sergi Roberto was a standout player last night.
Barcelona’s second strength team didn’t sit back and invite pressure from Valencia they took the game to them. Sergi Roberto, Munir and Rakitic all had opportunities to score but failed to do so. Luis Enrique decided to experiment his formation using a 3-5-2 formation which saw Vermaelen,Bartra and Mathieu protect Ter Stegen in goal. This gamble backfired when a long ball found Negredo unmarked in acres of space. The former Man City striker raced into the box followed by Bartra. Ter Stegen blocked the Spaniards first effort but could not keep hold of the ball which bounced fortunately back into the path of Negredo who coolly put Valencia ahead on the night despite Bartra’s sliding attempt to prevent the goal.
Munir missed some great opportunities to level the sides.
Barcelona squandered many opportunities to level the score the closest chance coming from an Ivan Rakitic free kick. A mix up in communication saw both Bartra and Munir go for the cross resulting in a miss from just 6 yards. Enrique’s frustration could be seen with his sides performance as he threw a water bottle in anger. His side continued to search for an equalizer in the second half and Rakitic went agonizingly close when his run along the left wing and subsequent cut inside allowed him to have a shot on goal but it was saved well.
Hero on the night Wilfrid Kaptoum celebrates his first goal with the senior team in only his third appearance.
A draw would be enough to see Enrique beat Pep Guardiola’s record of 28 games unbeaten and in the 81st minute he decided to introduce B team regular Wilfrid Kaptoum. Just three minutes later Camara another B team player delivered a perfect cross to Kaptoum who calmly slotted home the equalizer with is first touch of the game. Enrique’s men held on to deny Gary Neville a home victory in front of just 16,000 at the Mestalla. The 7 goal margin of victory over the two legs is the heaviest defeat in Valencia’s history.
Rakitic was deployed as a false 9 during the match.
With a place in the Copa del Rey final on May 21st now secured Luis Enrique looks ahead to a difficult home fixture on Sunday night against his former team Celta Vigo. Barcelona will hope to avoid a repeat of the scoreline from their last meeting which saw Vigo triumph 4-1.
Total Football 