FC Barcelona News: 3 February 2019

Barça 2–2 Valencia: A Val-iant Draw! | FC Barcelona
Lionel Messi scored once in each half as Futbol Club Barcelona came back from two goals down after just 32 minutes of play to earn a 2-2 draw with Valencia on Saturday evening in La Liga. The tie hands first-place Barça a single point and provisionally extends their lead at the top of the league standings to five points over Atlético Madrid, who visit Real Betis on Sunday.

Messi scores 20 goals in the league for the 11th season in a row | FC Barcelona
After the 2-2 draw against Valencia at Camp Nou, Leo Messi has reached another milestone this season thanks to his two goals. The blaugrana number 10 has now scored 21 in the league in the 2018/19 campaign, the 11th season in a row he has done so.

Valverde hopeful Messi will make Madrid clash despite injury scare | Goal
Ernesto Valverde has confirmed that Lionel Messi will be assessed by Barcelona’s medical staff after taking a knock in the 2-2 draw against Valencia, bringing his status for their midweek Copa del Rey clash against Real Madrid into question. Barca trailed to first half goals from Kevin Gameiro and Daniel Parejo until Messi intervened.

Ivan Rakitic: We deserved Valencia win | Football Espana
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic believes his side did enough to secure a win against Valencia at the Nou Camp, after Marcelino’s side ended their eight game La Liga winning streak, with an entertaining 2-2 draw. Two goals for Lionel Messi helped Barcelona to fight back, after falling 2-0 behind after 35 minutes, but the Croatian international believes they had the chances to collect all three points.

Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele, the double dilemma for Valverde | Sport
Ousmane Dembele is another case. He has been out for 15 days with an ankle sprain, which was forecast. But he’s not at 100 per cent yet either. Valverde has to decide whether to call on the Frenchman, who has not yet trained with the group. If he does on Monday, it might be a sign that he is ready.

Barcelona have hit the woodwork 24 times this season | Sport
Barcelona hit the post twice against Valencia in the 2-2 draw on Saturday, both times from Sergi Roberto efforts. That’s 24 woodwork hits for the season, although on three occasions it led to a goal. Only six Barca players are responsible for all those hits. Lionel Messi has the most, with nine. Luis Suarez follows with five, Coutinho four, Dembele three, Sergi Roberto two and Munir El Haddadi, now of Sevilla, has one.

Barcelona’s left-back problem | Marca
Jordi Alba didn’t even start that Valencia match, but had to come on at the break after Sergi Roberto was struggling on the left of defence. There have been other matches in recent weeks in which Valverde has given the Catalan a breather and it has been tough trying to replace him.