Gary Neville watched from the stands as his new Valencia side survived a Barcelona onslaught to hold on to a 1-1 draw. Luis Suárez struck for Barça just before the hour, but Santi Mina snatched a dramatic equaliser five minutes from time.
It was a morale-boosting result for Valencia before their Champions League game at home to Lyon on Wednesday – Neville’s first official match in charge. His side must win to keep alive their chances of advancing to the last 16.
With Neville taking a back seat, the caretaker Salvador Voro was in charge, alongside Phil Neville, as Valencia somehow came through a one-sided first half all-square.
Neymar set the tone for Barça in the opening moments when he broke clear down the left and crossed for Lionel Messi, who sent his volley wide. That was to become a feature of the first half, with Neymar tying the Valencia right-back Rúben Vezo in knots.
The Brazilian hoodwinked Vezo on the byline before cutting the ball back for Messi, who this time poked it straight at home keeper Jaume. Valencia did mount the occasional attack, though, and they felt they should have been awarded a penalty after half an hour when Gerard Piqué pulled back Enzo Pérez.
They were relieved at the other end moments later, however, when Suárez volleyed wide from another Neymar cross. Messi then played in Suárez, but he opted to cross rather than shoot.
Barça were frustrated once more just before half-time when Aderlan Santos got a vital touch on Jordi Alba’s low cross with Suárez lurking at the far post for a tap-in. But the visitors finally made the breakthrough in the 59th minute when Suárez chased Messi’s ball over the top. The striker held off the challenge of Aymen Abdennour before crashing his shot inside Jaume’s near post.
Neymar almost sealed it with a memorable second with 15 minutes left after a powerful run into the area, but his shot flew inches wide. Instead Valencia, with only their second shot on target, snatched an equaliser when Mina tucked away Paco Alcácer’s pass.
Elsewhere in La Liga, Real Madrid ended a turbulent week off the pitch on a high when Karim Benzema struck twice in a 4-1 victory over Getafe. Real’s dominant performance, with the other goals from Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, lifted them above Atlético Madrid into second for a couple of hours – but Atlético responded with a 2-0 win at Granada.
With 14 matches played, Barça lead on 34 points, two ahead of Atlético, with Real a further two points adrift in third.
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