Barcelona Loses Again in La Liga; it was Valencia this time

Barcelona absorbed its third consecutive loss at the La Liga, which endangered its hopes of defending its title. The club lost to Valencia, 2-1, which was a reversal to an earlier game between the two clubs where the Catalan giant won 7-0.

A couple of weeks ago, the club was on its way to defending its Champions League title anchored on its nine-point lead. However, fortunes changed as the team suddenly lost its form. The losses resulted to the sacking of Coach Gary Neville, even as the team showed some improvement recently. Many expected the team to have an easy game with Valencia.

But, a deflected own goal of Ivan Rakitic and a strike by Santi Mina in the first half gave indications that Valencia may get one over the host. In the 63rd minute, Lionel Messi scored his 500th goal for the club as he ended a goal drought in the last five games. The goal renewed some hope in the team.

Barcelona Loses Again - image credit: foxsports.com

Rakitic and Gerard Piquet had some chances in the second half of the game, but were unable to convert them. While Barcelona is still leading La Liga, it leads Atletico Madrid by goal difference, Atletico Madrid won over Granada on Sunday with goals from Fernando Torres, Angel Correa and Koke.

Real Madrid is trailing behind by one point after it won over Getafe, 5-1. Five more games await the three teams. The 2-1 victory of Real on April 2 served as the catalyst for the collapse of Barcelona. While the team won 2-1 over Atletico in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal tie, it was followed by a loss to Real Socieded, 1-0. Barca later lost in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal tie to Atletico, 2-0. The defeat ended its reign as the European champion.

The loss to Valencia marks the first time the club lost three consecutive games in the La Liga since 2003. Despite the defeat, Coach Louis Enrique said they will pick themselves up and face challenges in the same way a Barcelona player faces it, with the head held up high.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday April 18 2016, 12:59 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0