Barça took the field against Valencia especially unfocused in defense. The Blaugrana went ahead on the scoreboard, thanks to a goal from Fermín López, but the Valencians came back from the duel in the first half with very little effort, first thanks to a blunder by Marc André Ter Stegen and then with a crude penalty committed by Ronald Araújo.
Not even Pau Cubarsí, impeccable since his emergence this season, started the match in tune. The 17-year-old youth player lost sight of Peter Federico’s mark on a long ball, who sent the ball wide in one-on-one with Ter Stegen. But the German was in charge of correcting the Valencian player’s mistake in the 27th minute.
Valencia threw a ball too long for Hugo Duro who ran without many options against Ter Stegen who had margin and time to clear the danger. However, the goalkeeper decided to perform a failed frivolity with a hat that fell short, directly into the chest of the Che striker, who did not forgive an empty goal.
The gifts from the Barça defense were not over yet. Araújo failed to calculate the trajectory of a high ball and in his attempt to correct his mistake he went without measuring his strength towards Peter Federico who touched the ball inside the area before being attacked by the Uruguayan. A play that he recalled, saving the distance, to the action with Barcola that cost the Uruguayan defender a red card against PSG.
Pepelu was in charge of scoring Valencia’s second goal from the spot with a shot through the center that deceived Ter Stegen. The mistakes then stopped on the Blaugrana side and were transferred to the Valencian side, specifically in a play between Lamine Yamal and Mamardashvili that ended in the goalkeeper’s expulsion.
The Georgian came out to cover Yamal, but being outside the area he deflected the ball with his hand, which earned him a direct red card. The Barça man was already facing an empty goal if it weren’t for the illegal action of the goalkeeper. De Burgos Bengoetxea and his assistant did not see anything punishable live and it was the VAR that recommended going to the referee to finally send off Mamardashvili.
