Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are in a red-hot form at the moment and both were at there best again as Barcelona won 1-0 against Valencia in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
The Uruguayan wizard Luis Suarez scored the only goal of the game as Barcelona won the first leg of the two-legged semi-final. Luis Suarez made it 16 goals in 16 games with the bullet header that puts Barcelona just 90 minutes away from a Copa del Rey final. The first half was a tight affair as Valencia set up to try and get a draw to take home to Mestalla. But Barcelona was not readily ready to accept the draw.
Luis Suarez has now scored 9 goals in his 8 games for Barcelona across all competitions in 2018.
What slow start to the season? pic.twitter.com/pM0lQPbHWO
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 1, 2018
The breakthrough moment in the game came in the 67th minute when Jordi Alba and Lionel Messi worked on their way in down the left, with the latter scooping across to Luis Suarez who dived in to register goal of the match. The last time Valencia came to Camp Nou for a Copa del Rey semi-final, Gary Neville was in charge of the club and they were hammered 7-0.
Messi was at his best, but he failed to influence the game in terms of the goal. Speaking of Messi’s performance, Valverde said: “When Messi plays the ball, everybody expects many things from him. Sometimes it’s too much because we have to let Messi breathe a bit.
It’s true he is an awesome player as we have said many, many times. It’s a spectacle watching him every day.”
Speaking of Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Valencia, Valverde further added: “I wouldn’t say the score is not that bad because I think the score is good because we won the match. Winning a match is really difficult and we did.
Valencia didn’t score, so we have to think that 0-0 is good for us at Mestalla but we won’t go there looking to draw the match. We will go for trying to win it.”
Author’s Take-
Messi can’t always influence the game in terms of goals. His presence on the field is more the enough to influence the game. One can’t always expect him to score goals, his role is quite different, he is not a goal poacher.
