La Liga highlights: Barcelona beats Valladolid 1-0

Catch all the highlights, commentary and scores from the 2019-20 La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Valladolid on Saturday.

Updated : Jul 12, 2020 02:06 IST

FC Barcelona takes on Real Valladolid in a La Liga match on Saturday.
FC Barcelona takes on Real Valladolid in a La Liga match on Saturday.
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FC Barcelona takes on Real Valladolid in a La Liga match on Saturday.

 

That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!

MATCH REPORT |

The win takes second-placed FC Barcelona on to 79 points after 36 games, one behind Real Madrid which can restore its four-point advantage when it visits Granada on Monday.

AND IT'S FULL TIME!!

90+4' WHAT A CHANCE! Valladolid forward Sandro Ramirez gets inside the box and tries to beat Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a measured shot into the left side of the goal, but the custodian is equal to the effort and makes a fine save.

90' Four minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Valladolid's Waldo Rubio looks to break free, but an opposing player clears the ball away. Pablo Hervias recovers the ball and serves up a nice cross, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen punches the ball away.

85' Valladolid had conceded just one goal in four home games before the Barcelona encounter. Meanwhile, Quique Setien's side had kept only two clean sheets in 10 away matches in all competitions before this one. Had Griezmann converted that sitter in the first half, things would have been different for Barca. It is currently struggling to keep its lead against Valladolid.

80' CHANCE!!! Luis Suarez races towards goal but Valladolid centre-back Kiko gets back well to make a challenge. The counter-attack is on now. SHOT!! Kike Perez strikes the ball towards goal, but it fails to reach the target after being well blocked by Pique.

75' SUBSTITUTION!!! Another change by Setien and Junior Firpo comes on for Sergio Busquets. CORNER FOR BARCELONA! The substitute Ivan Rakitic will take it. Valladolid players inside the box clear the ball away with ease and avert the danger.

70' CORNER FOR VALLADOLID!! Hervias will take the set-piece. He takes a short corner. Fede receives the ball and sends a cross into the box and Barca defenders somehow clear the ball away. Valladolid comes close to equalising yet again.

65' YELLOW CARD!! Valladolid's Kike Perez is booked by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz for a cynical foul on a Barcelona player.  Barcelona is kind of getting dominated now. All the first half positivity surrounding the team has evapourated. It has to score one more to relieve itself off pressure.

63' SUBSTITUTION! Sergio Guardiola makes way for former Barcelona striker Sandro Ramirez. WHAT A CHANCE!!! It was a Messi free-kick from close range. After a brief struggle due to the crowd of players in front of him, Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip pushes the ball away for a Barca corner.

61' FREE-KICK FOR VALLADOLID!! WHAT A SAVE!!!! Ter Stegen pulls off a remarkable save to keep Barca in the lead. Enes Unal rose the highest inside the box during a cross from the set-piece. His header would have found the back of the net on some other day but Ter Stegen is Barca's hero today.

57' TWO MORE BARCELONA CHANGES!!! Ivan Rakitic comes in for Riqui Puig and Ronald Araujo replaces Clement Lenglet in the middle. The latter is a surprising change from manager Quique Setien. SHOT! Valladolid is attacking with numbers forward now. Kike's powerful shot misses the target by a whisker.

52' Luis Suarez should have started this game. He has created a few chances already. On the other hand, Enes Unal has looked crisp since coming on as well. CHANCE!! Puig tried to execute another through ball to a teammate moving forward but the Valladolid defence was alert there.

46' THREE SUBSTITUTIONS STRAIGHTAWAY! Two by Valladolid and one by Barcelona. Luis Suarez replaces Antoine Griezmann in the middle for Barca. Meanwhile, Valladolid's Pablo Hervias and Enes Unal come on for Joaquin Fernandez and Ruben Alcaraz.

THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!

Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!

AND IT'S HALF-TIME!!!

45+4' YELLOW CARD! This time it's a Valladolid player who is booked. Ruben Alcaraz commits a terrible tackle on the goal scorer Arturo Vidal and is booked. Kike wins back the ball for Valladolid but the Barcelona defender combine well to avert the danger.

45' Four minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half. FREE-KICK FOR BARCA!!! Both Messi and Puig get ready to take it. But it's the Barcelona captain with the final shot and he misses the target by quite a bit.

40' YELLOW CARD!!! Clement Lenglet comes up with another silly tackle. The Barcelona centre-back goes into the referee's book. Valladolid has been creating a few chances in the last 10 minutes. But the team's finishing has been quite poor today.

38' CORNER FOR VALLADOLID!! Plano is having a great game here. Meanwhile, Kike Perez almost equalised a few moments ago. But he slipped and was fortunate not to injure himself. The home team messes up the set-piece as Barcelona regains possession.

34' Play resumes after the cooling break. Just moments ago, Valladolid keeper Jordi Masip had made a well anticipated save during a Riqui Puig cross into the box. Antoine Griezmann was well set to have a shot on target but Masip came out at the right time.

29' SHOT! Valladolid forward Oscar Plano lets one fly from midfield but Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen makes a straightforward save. Clement Lenglet looks a little rusty today but otherwise Barcelona has played some eye-catching football here.

24' SUBSTITUTION!!!! Valladolid left-back Raul Garcia is injured. He is getting some medical attention on the sidelines. Manager Sergio has decided to make a change. This is a forced one. He brings in Nacho for the injured Garcia. Barca has dominated the game so far.

19' WHAT A MISS!!! Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann completes a horrible miss with an open goal at his expense. Semedo and Messi had executed a perfect one-two just outside the box. Semedo got back the ball and he put in a low cross into the box to Griezmann who missed an absolute sitter.

15' GOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!! BARCELONA 1 - 0 VALLADOLID!! ARTURO VIDAL SCORES!!! It was another beautiful assist from Lionel Messi, his 20th of the season. Semedo had the ball just outside the box. He found Messi who in turn found Vidal and the Chilean scored a wonderful goal with very little space to work on as he was surrounded by several Valladolid defenders.

12' CORNER FOR BARCELONA!!! Captain Lionel Messi will take it. The Valladolid defenders head the ball away. But Riqui Puig receives the ball outside the box. But the youngster's attempt to pick out a teammate with a through ball does not come off.

9' Valladolid's Plano sends a cross into the box from the right wing but the Barcelona defence clears the ball away. Another Barca counter is initiated. Lionel Messi attempts to send a through ball to Antoine Griezmann in front of him. But there was too much power on the pass as Valladolid regains possession.

5' FIRST CHANCE OF THE GAME! Brilliant run by Nelson Semedo on the right flank. It was a Barcelona counter-attack. Semedo put in a low cross into the box to Riqui Puig who hit a shot on target. However, Jordi Masip was very alert as he made a crucial save and averted the danger.

AND THE MATCH IS UNDERWAY!

The team line-ups are out!

FC BARCELONA XI: Ter Stegen (G), Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Roberto, Busquets, Puig, Vidal, Messi (C), Griezmann.

COACH: Quique Setien.

REAL VALLADOLID XI: Masip (G), Moyano (C), Kiko, Sanchez, Garcia, Plano, Fede, Fernandez, Alcaraz, Kike, Guardiola.

COACH: Sergio Gonzalez.

MATCH PREVIEW:

Barcelona visits Real Valladolid needing a win to keep alive its chances of overtaking leader Real Madrid, which leads the defending champion by four points with three matches to go.

Barca coach Quique Setien won’t have the suspended Ansu Fati, so Antoine Griezmann will likely start up front with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez after his strong performances in the last two games.

Meanwhile, Arthur missed training on Friday with tonsillitis and the Brazilian – who will move to Juventus in the summer – is not in the squad for the game at the Jose Zorrilla.

READ |

Youngster Riqui Puig could start for Barca in midfield after Setien’s side struggled to break down Espanyol in a disappointing display earlier in the week.

Sergio Gonzalez's men have shown themselves to be a tough side to break down throughout the season.

Real Madrid needed a late goal to secure a 1-0 win on its visit to Valladolid while Atletico Madrid was held to a goalless draw, with plenty of the top teams in the division having struggled at the Estadio Jose Zorilla this term.

Barca will be hoping to recover some of the form it showed in its last away game at Villarreal where it played some of the best football of the season, yet Wednesday night saw it return to a more placid showing against Espanyol.

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