Barcelona 2-2 Valencia: results, summary and goals

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid team news ahead of Eibar: Vinicius, Hazard, Isco

Gracias and goodbye!

I'm going to wrap up this live feed now - thanks for reading! Don't forget to join us for live-text coverage of Real Madrid's LaLiga clash with Eibar tomorrow evening at 21:00 CET.

I'll leave you with the latest Madrid team news ahead of that match:

LaLiga

Lionel Messi equals Pele's one-club goals haul

Watch: Messi's record-equalling goal (US only)

Here's a video of the Lionel Messi equaliser that brought the Barcelona star level with Pelé's record Santos haul (available for viewers in the US only, I'm afraid).

Barça penalty shouldn’t have been given - AS resident ref

Barcelona’s penalty should not have been awarded, says former FIFA referee Eduardo Iturralde González.

"In my opinion, it isn’t a penalty in any way," Iturralde said. "There is light contact, but referees have been told that it has to be clear contact.

"This isn’t a penalty - there is a lack of nuanced judgement. [Match referee Alejandro] Hernández Hernández changes the decision and says it’s a penalty because he catches Griezmann [with his legs], but it’s still light contact."

Messi's 643 Barcelona goals broken down

José Gayà may be unhappy about the Barcelona penalty, but - from the rebound, at least - it saw Lionel Messi equal Pelé's record of 643 goals for a single club.

Here, courtesy of our colleagues at Sofascore, is a breakdown of Messi's goals for Barça by competition.

Gayà lauds “unbelievable” Valencia display

Valencia captain José Gayà has also spoken to Movistar+, praising his side’s performance at the Camp Nou and complaining about the award of Barça’s first-half penalty, after he was adjudged to have fouled Antoine Griezmann.

“Crazy game”:

“It was a bit of a crazy game. We put in an unbelievable performance both in attack and defence; we created a lot of very clear chances. But Barça have great players and a great team, and if you switch off for even a second they punish you.”

Valencia belief:

“We believed that we could win. We had chances to make it 3-2, which would have been the icing on the cake of our performance, but it wasn’t to be.”

Penalty:

“It’s a ball that Messi brings forward and slips [into the box] on my inside as I’m badly positioned. I maybe brush Griezmann but the referee says I shoved him. VAR then said there wasn’t a shove, which is why it wasn’t red, but that it was a penalty because I made contact with him down below. But I don’t think there was contact down below.”

Draw leaves "bitter taste in the mouth" - Araújo

Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo has spoken to Movistar+'s Ricardo Rosety: 

Post-match feelings:

“We come away from the match with a bitter taste in the mouth because we wanted the three points. It’s a shame.”

Mistakes at the back:

“We made some errors at the back and we have to work on that and improve on that. It’s a shame [not to have won] because we had a lot of chances. We have to keep on working hard, we’re looking good and we’re putting together a decent run, so hopefully we can go on and get some more wins under our belt.”

Barcelona penalty award:

“I didn’t get a good look at it from where I was at the back, but it looked like a penalty to me.”

First goal for Barça:

“I’m happy to score my first goal for Barcelona; it's great to get on the scoresheet and all the more so for a club like Barcelona, but I come away from this game with a bitter taste in the mouth nonetheless.”

Valladolid up next:

“We’ve got an important game on Tuesday [against Real Valladolid] and we need to go out there and win that one, and end the calendar year with a win”.

But Valencia clear and Alejandro Hernández Hernández blows for full time! 2-2 it finishes.

That was very enjoyable, particularly the second half, and it really was a game that either side could have come away from with all three points.

As it is, though, they share the spoils, meaning that Barcelona have missed the chance to move - albeit provisionally - into the top four.

Ronald Koeman's men stay fifth for now, and will be overtaken by Sevilla if the Andalusians beat Real Valladolid later this evening.

Meanwhile, Valencia remain in the bottom half of the table and have now gone five league games without a win, but they will clearly take enormous encouragement from their performance today.

...which comes to nothing. It's finally worked to Manu Vallejo on the right, where the substitute tries to find Blanco at the far post, but his cross is slightly overhit.

Up the other end, Barça win a corner and will have the game's final chance to create a winner. 

Jordi Alba is shown a yellow card for his complaints to the referee when Lenglet is penalised for fouling Maxi Gómez in an aerial challenge. 

It's a decent-looking free-kick for Valencia on the right flank...

De Jong scampers in from the left towards the edge of the box, before dinking a ball into the danger area, where Trincao is waiting for it - but Doménech is quickly off his line to punch it clear.

Valencia introduce Kang-in Lee for Cheryshev.

Three minutes of time added on at the Camp Nou.

Valencia bring on Manu Vallejo. Guedes - who has been fantastic - makes way.

Barcelona replace Pedri with Miralem Pjanic.

And up the other end, Blanco cuts it back to Guedes inside the box - but the Portguese can't connect! This game really is there for the taking for either side.

Free-kick to Barcelona just outside the box in prime Messi territory. Can he overtake Pelé?

No. He sends it a couple of yards over.

According to Movistar+ journalist Ricardo Rosety, that makes it 59 consecutive free-kicks without scoring for the Argentine.

And that is Coutinho's last involvement in the game. He is brought off for a centre-back in Clément Lenglet, as Koeman opts to switch to a back three of Lenglet, Mingueza and Araújo.

Close from Coutinho! The Brazilian cuts inside from the left and fizzes a low shot towards Doménech's far post, but it flashes just wide! That's the type of thing Barça paid a king's ransom to see him do; he hasn't done it nearly enough in Catalonia. 

Gómez adds to growing goal tally against Barça

Spanish football-stats guru Mister Chip points out that Maxi Gómez's goal today is the fifth that he has scored against Barcelona in his career. Only Real Sociedad have been on the end of more Gómez goals (six) since the Uruguayan arrived in LaLiga.

Messi does his peak-Messi move of cutting in from the right and jinking his way into shooting space just left of centre on the edge of the box... but his effort is a weak one and Doménech scoops it up with ease.

15 minutes to go. It's anyone's game.

Barcelona bring Francisco Trincao on for Griezmann.

That's a hit and a half from Mingueza, who barrels forward towards the Valencia penalty area and draws a smart stop from Doménech from 25 yards out!

Moments later, Coutinho forces Doménech into another crucial intervention. You can't talk your eyes off this one.

It's all being played in the Valencia half at the moment. Gracia should surely be on the point of throwing on some fresh legs.

Braithwaite turns and cuts it back from the left-hand byline, but Griezmann doesn't appear to be expecting the Dane's ball and succeeds only in letting it run between his legs.

Coutinho then ducks and dives his way into the box and forces a corner, which is finally worked to the Brazilian to shoot - but it's charged down.

Dest cuts inside from the right and pulls a low shot wide of the near post. This has turned into a very enjoyable game.

Ufff. Valencia aren't a million miles away from getting an equaliser there. Blanco does very well on the right before laying it off to the top of the box for Racic, who sends a sidefooted effort just past Ter Stegen's left-hand post.

Mingueza is booked for a heavy challenge on Guedes.

So close to 3-1 to Barcelona! It's a fine stop from Doménech, who gets down low very swiftly to keep out Braithwaite's back-post header, which was well directed and looked for all the world like it was going in.

What a chance for Cheryshev! He absolutely fluffs it.

Guedes bursts past Mingueza on the right, advances into the box and cuts it back to the penalty spot, where it's on a silver platter for Cheryshev to put the visitors back into the lead - but he gets a dreadful connection on the ball and it dribbles wide!

That's quite a let-off for Barcelona.

Barcelona have made a half-time substitution, replacing Sergio Busquets with Frenkie de Jong, who had spent the final period of the first 45 warming up.

Peeeep! We're back up and running at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona concede from a corner yet again

Diakhaby's opener for Valencia was the fourth time this season that Barcelona have conceded from a corner kick in LaLiga this season, note stats specialists Opta. Only newly-promoted Huesca, who are rooted to the bottom of the table, have let in as many from corners in this term's Spanish top flight.

Messi equals Pelé mark

Despite Jaume Doménech's best efforts, Lionel Messi now has 643 goals for Barcelona in all competitions, equalling the record single-club haul set by Pelé at Santos between 1956 and 1974.

Peep peeep peeep! Half time at the Camp Nou. That was quite a finish to the first 45.

Penalty given to Barcelona! Messi slips Griezmann into shooting space in the box, where he goes down under Gayà's challenge - and the referee points to the spot and waves a red card at the Valencia captain!

One VAR check later, though, the left-back's red is downgraded to yellow - but the penalty stands!

What a chance for Maxi Gómez! Cheryshev gets to the byline and crosses right onto Gómez's bonce six yards out, but he's denied by a terrific Ter Stegen save! The striker could have placed his header further into the corner, but still - that was fine goalkeeping.

Messi slips it left to Busquets, who shepherds it on to Alba on the left. He wafts in a cross towards the penalty spot that Valencia deal with easily.

30 seconds later, Barça again get Alba into crossing space, the full-back fizzing a better ball across the six-yard box - where Braithwaite tumbles under Gabriel's challenge, leaving the hosts appealing for a penalty.

A VAR a check rules that the Valencia defender did nothing wrong, however.

Yunus Musah is down and is going to be brought off. It's not 100% clear what's wrong with him. Álex Blanco is stripped and about to come on for the 18-year-old.

De Jong is warming up. Niggle or no niggle, it appears Koeman is preparing to bring his countryman into the Barcelona midfield.

There is talk that Pedri could be struggling with a knock. Speaking of knocks, by the way, Valencia's Racic looks to be soldiering on.

Coutinho carries the ball 40, 50 yards to the edge of the area - aided by the fact that Valencia midfielder Racic looks to be in some physical discomfort - and releases Griezmann on the right-hand side of the box. The Frenchman strikes low, but Doménech gathers fairly comfortably.

We'll have to see whether Racic is able to continue or not.

Valencia almost get Guedes into shooting space inside the box, before spurning not one, but two clear chances by getting in each others' way not once, but twice! Talk to each other, lads.

First Musah swaggers in from the right and into the box, but just as he's about to pull the trigger, he and Maxi Gómez collide with one another. 

The ball breaks free to the left-hand side of the box, where either Cheryshev or Gayà has a clear chance to test Ter Stegen - but they both steam onto the ball and put each other off!

Alba slips it into Griezmann in the box, where the Frenchman tries to shuttle it on to Pedri, but finds a wall of grey-ish blue shirts (I think that's the colour; it's hard to tell) in front of him.

Moments later, Dest gets to the byline and lifts a first-time cross into the middle, but Diakhaby heads clear.

Guedes shoots low from 20 yards or slow, but scuffs an absolute trundler well wide. These first 20 minutes at the Camp Nou have been pretty low on quality.

Atleti go provisionally nine points ahead of Barcelona

Atlético have beaten Elche at the Wanda Metropolitano, by the way, a brace by former Barça star Luis Suárez and a penalty by Diego Costa earning Los Rojiblancos a 3-1 victory over Jorge Almirón's men.

That leaves Barça needing to win today to reduce a provisional nine-point gap between them and the leaders back to six. Atleti also have a game in hand on the Catalans, remember.

Soler delivers a Valencia corner kick deep to the back of the Barcelona box, where Wass has acres of space to gather the ball and shoot at goal. However, the Dane's effort flies well over. 

Up the other end, Barça get a free-kick that's a mirror image of Valencia's a few moments ago, and they make as little of the set piece as the visitors did of theirs, Messi slapping his delivery straight into the wall.

Griezmann is the first man into Señor Hernández Hernández's book after bundling over Guedes.

Wass is fouled in the right-hand channel and Carlos Soler has a chance to swing a Valencia free-kick into the box. 

Ah, but instead of sending the ball into the area, Los Che try a training ground move which - and this is being kind - doesn't particularly work out.

Diakhaby goes charging in on Busquets and utterly halfs him in the box, but rather than giving Barcelona a penalty the referee awards Valencia a free-kick for a handball by the Blaugrana midfielder.

Diakhaby is a lucky boy there. And he's got a fair bit of form in the giving-away-ridiculously-rash-penalties department, it's fair to say.

Pedro tries to scoop a pass into the box to Lionel Messi, but Gabriel gets it clear. Barcelona then win it straight back and work it to Messi, who looks to slip a low ball into the area - but Diakhaby heads it away.

Valencia have very clearly gone out with the idea of sitting deep and hitting Barça on the break.

Valencia's Gonçalo Guedes has the first sight on goal, cutting on from the left and pinging a shot towards Ter Stegen's far corner, but sending his effort comfortably wide.

De Jong not risked

Midfielder Frenkie de Jong was left out of the starting line-up because he has a slight niggle. He should be fit for Tuesday's LaLiga clash away to Real Valladolid, reports ESPN's Samuel Marsden.

Peeeep! We're underway at the Camp Nou.

Our match referee is Alejandro Hernández Hernández.

Messi one goal off Pelé's record

Lionel Messi remains just one goal shy of equalling Brazil great Pelé's goal-scoring record for a single club. The Argentine's winner against Levante six days ago took him to 642 goals in all competitions for Barça, and having drawn a blank against Real Sociedad last time out, he has another opportunity to pull level with Pelé's 643 for Santos today.

What the coaches said: Javi Gracia, Valencia

On Barcelona:

“They’re getting better and better, playing to a higher level. They beat Real Sociedad, another of LaLiga’s strongest teams. We have to be brave, both with and without the ball, and perform well defensively to have a chance. When we’re pressing high up the field, we need to be very aggressive, and when we set up in a deep defensive block, we need to be very disciplined.”

Unconvincing Copa del Rey win in midweek:

“We have to improve. There were a lot of things we needed to do better in our cup match. Everything I say about that match may well sound like an excuse, but a lot of youngsters played - we need to try and keep as many [regular first-team] players fresh.”

(Photo: David González/Diario AS)

What the coaches said: Ronald Koeman, Barcelona

Unhappy tenure as Valencia boss:

“Valencia doesn’t bring back my best memories as a coach. Maybe I made wrong decisions. It was a short spell, but at least we won a Copa del Rey. Valencia is a tricky place. In the last 15 years, there have been many changes. It’s not a peaceful environment in which to work.”

Midweek win over Real Sociedad:

“There’s always been a good atmosphere despite the defeats. Everything’s easier when you win games. [The victory over La Real] was a game where how we played without the ball was very important, given the quality of our opponents. We want to have that energy in every game. We want to dominate, win balls back and play high up the pitch. We’ve won two of the three [consecutive] home games that we have; we have one left to win.”

"As the players came past, each and every one of them ignored him"

If you'd like to do some further reading on Koeman's short spell at Valencia, I'll point you in the direction of this piece by the Guardian's Sid Lowe published just before his sacking.

One particular passage, which describes the immediate aftermath of Valencia's Copa del Rey win under the Dutchman, brutally illustrates of his poor rapport with the Mestalla squad:

“As the final whistle blew on Wednesday's final, he stumbled on to the field at the Vicente Calderón looking forlornly for someone to hug. The few players to embrace him did so half-heartedly, leaving Koeman to hover on the fringes as the photos were taken.

"When he finally left the stadium well after 1am, emerging into the gloom, he strolled about as if he was looking for someone to pat him on the back, say 'well done' or just smile in his rough direction. As the players came past, each and every one of them ignored him until eventually he boarded the bus. Alone.”

Koeman up against former employers

Barça boss Ronald Koeman today faces a club where he spent a tumultuous five-month spell as head coach between November 2007 and April 2008.

Though it was a tenure that saw Valencia lift the Copa del Rey, he was sacked just four days after that trophy triumph, when a 5-1 thumping by Athletic Club left Los Che just two points above the relegation zone.

Koeman's stint at Mestalla is particularly remembered for the hugely fractious relationship he had with the squad, amid bust-ups with a number of players including club stalwarts David Albelda, Miguel Ángel Angulo and Santi Cañizares.

Another player he fell out with at Valencia was Joaquín. Now back at Real Betis, the winger said ahead of the Andalusians' meeting with Barça last month: “It wasn’t the nicest experience of my sporting career; it really wasn’t pleasant. I won’t say hello to him and he won’t say hello to me.

“I wouldn’t hire Koeman even as the kit man. Thankfully, he wasn’t my coach for long and we were able to save our season […]. It was a bad experience.”

(Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

Coutinho back in Barça XI, Gayà and Chersyhev in for Valencia

Barça boss Ronald Koeman makes one change to the side that started Wednesday's victory over Real Sociedad, bringing Philippe Coutinho into the midfield in place of Frenkie de Jong, who grabbed the winner against the Txuri-urdin.

Coutinho returns to the XI amid reports that Barça have run out of patience with their record signing and are preparing to offload him in January.

For Valencia, Denis Cheryshev is the only survivor from the Copa win over Terrassa, as Javi Gracia names a side featuring two changes to the team that drew with Athletic Club last time out in LaLiga. Cheryshev is one, and the return of first-choice left-back José Gayà is the other.

Valencia team news

Starting line-up: Doménech, Wass, Gabriel, Diakhaby, Gayà, Musah, Soler, Racic, Guedes, Cheryshev, Gómez

Substitutes: Rivero, Thierry, Mangala, Sobrino, Kang-in, Blanco, Vallejo, Jason, Esquerdo, Koba Lein, Molina, Unai

Barcelona team news

Starting line-up: Ter Stegen, Dest, Araújo, Mingueza, Alba, Pedri, Busquets, Coutinho, Griezmann, Messi, Braithwaite

Substitutes: Aleñá, Pjanic, Riqui Puig, Neto, Lenglet, Trincão, Matheus, De Jong, Umtiti, Junior, Konrad, Arnau Tenas

Valencia winless in four in LaLiga

Meanwhile, visitors Valencia go to the Camp Nou on a run of four league games without a win and down in 13th in LaLiga.

Los Che did get a victory on the board in the Copa del Rey in midweek, but left head coach Javi Gracia distinctly unimpressed with their performance as an admittedly weakened side squeaked past fourth-tier minnows Terrassa and into the second round.

Such was the level of squeak-pasting, indeed, that Valencia required a stoppage-time Yunus Musah equaliser to force extra time at the Estadi Olímpic de Terrassa, before a Gonçalo Guedes double earned Gracia’s men a 4-2 win.

The 2018/19 Copa winners will now face third-tier side Yeclano in the next round.

A reminder that, as one of the four teams taking part in January's Spanish Super Cup, Barça get a bye until the third round of the Copa.

Barcelona vs Valencia: welcome!

Good afternoon! Welcome to our live coverage of Barcelona vs Valencia, in what is without doubt the stand-out fixture of the weekend in LaLiga.

For hosts Barça, this is the third of three home league games on the spin. Having won the first against Levante last weekend, they then moved up to fifth in the Spanish top flight by beating high-flyers Real Sociedad 2-1 on Wednesday.

And if they can make it three wins in a row today, they’ll climb a little further up the standings and into the top four - at least until Villarreal play Osasuna later today, that is.

However, they remain some way off the top of the table: leaders Atlético Madrid went into matchday 14 six points ahead of the Blaurgana - and with a game in hand to boot.

What’s more, Diego Simeone's side are currently in the process of extending that gap to a provisional nine: they lead Elche in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, courtesy of a penalty by Diego Costa and a brace by ex-Barça man Luis Suárez.