Bipolar Barca baffles Martino
Print Edition
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino was lost for words after his side suffered its first league defeat at home in nearly two years as Valencia came from behind to win 3-2 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
The Catalans had appeared to be coasting to a routine victory as Alexis Sanchez put them in front after just seven minutes, whilst they also missed a host of other chances in a slick performance during the opening half an hour.
However, the game swung in Valencia’s favor in a crucial four-minute spell just either side of half-time as Dani Parejo slotted home an equalizer before Pablo Piatti’s looping header gave the visitors the lead.
Lionel Messi briefly levelled for Barcelona from the penalty spot before Paco Alcacer struck the winner as Valencia counter-attacked efficiently just before the hour mark.
And Barcelona’s miserable day was summed up when Jordi Alba was sent off against his old club 13 minutes from time.
“I was anxious to consolidate our early advantage because the game is not over until the referee blows the final whistle and it felt like we stopped after half an hour,” he said.
“This week I said that at this stage of the season you pay a heavy price for any errors and today we committed a lot of errors.
“Probably Valencia’s first goal caused us to lose a bit of confidence. In the second half that made us a bit more desperate, which in turn made us commit more errors. We seemed like one team in the first half and another in the second.”
Defeat means that a victory for Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid against Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, respectively, yesterday will knock Barcelona off top spot for the first time in a record 60 league games.
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