Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: Five Talking Points
Barcelona debutant Wilfrid Kaptoum cancelled out Alvaro Negredo's opener 7 minutes from time as the holders progressed to the finals of the Copa del Rey 8-1 on aggregate.Having benched several first team players for the trip to the Mestalla including the attacking troika of ‘MSN’, manager Luis Enrique threw a second string team in a game that was nothing more than formality for his side.Barcelona entered the fray with a commanding 7-0 lead, and 45 minutes after falling behind to Negredo’s opener, levelled the matters through Kaptoum and set a new club record for going 29 matches without a defeat.The draw cranked up the pressure on embattled Valencia coach Gary Neville as his side failed to register a win yet again. Here are some of the things we learnt from the drab encounter.
#1 A game shorn of quality
Barcelona were never going to take this match seriously. After the 7-0 battering of Valencia in the first leg, the defending champions had little to do in the reverse fixture and Luis Enrique expectedly, opted to rest several key names.
The hosts thereby stood a chance to end their miserable run and rack up a rare win, which they were on course until Kaptoum's equaliser, but cut a forlorn figure yet again. Not only were Los Che denied a victory, but also came under fire for not trying. Valencia hardly ever threatened and weren’t creative enough.
On the flip side, Barcelona appeared a different animal with many reserve players strutting the field, and did not look like their usual self. Although the youngsters weren’t disappointing, they never shifted out of the first gear.
As both sides lacked any sort of flair, the game ran short of quality. And even entertainment.