Barça forgot that they were playing in a final at Mestalla. They played a good game and were a better team than Valencia. However, he did not have the punch that a champion is supposed to have, but rather he forgave his rival after a series of failed shots against a solvent Mamardashvili. They played with too much serenity and conceded the tie in a defensive error that Hugo Guillamón took advantage of very well. He did not have the forcefulness to crown the good network of passes put together by Pedri and Frenkie de Jong. The classification required effectiveness and the Blaugrana only added one point when Girona is seven ahead of them and Madrid is five ahead in the absence of completing their matches against Alavés and Villarreal.
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Mamardashvili, Mouctar Diakhaby, Thierry Correia, Vazquez Alcalde (Yarek Gasiorowski, min. 81), Cristhian Ibarguen, Pepelu, Hugo Guillamón, Francisco Martinez (Selim Amallah, min. 72), Diego López (Foulquier, min. 81), Hugo Duro (Alberto Mari, min. 81) and Yaremchuk (Sergi Canos, min. 61)
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![Barcelona](https://as01.epimg.net/img/comunes/fotos/fichas/equipos/large/3.png)
Iñaki Peña, Cancelo, Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Alex Balde, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri, Gündogan (Lamine Yamal, min. 81), Raphinha, João Félix (Ferrán Torres, min. 72) and Lewandowski
Goals 0-1 min. 54: João Félix. 1-1 min. 70: Hugo Guillamón.
Referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias
Yellow cards Francisco Martinez (min. 64), Frenkie De Jong (min. 76) and Cancelo (min. 79)
The result tasted like glory to a diminished Valencia, which had only gotten one draw in the last four league games, very solid in any case in its fiefdom, in which Mamardashvili had only conceded three goals, four after the one scored by João Felix. The Portuguese culminated the good game of the Barcelona fans in a match in which they looked above all at the scoreboard due to the need to win that Xavi's team had.
The coach was consistent on the pitch with his speech in the press room and lined up his best-known and starting players, including Koundé, João Félix, Lewandowski and Raphinha, as if nothing had happened against Girona and there was stability at Barça. The only change was the presence of Balde on the left side while João Cancelo moved to the right side, a novelty that caused a more natural and classic formation because Christensen was the one sacrificed. The absence of a third Barça centre-back contrasted with Yaremchuk's ownership alongside Hugo Duro at Valencia. Baraja brought together a second striker to face the Koundé-Araujo couple.
The Barça kick-off did not change either, which consists of throwing the ball to any place on the opponent's field, and then immediately conceding a scoring opportunity while the ten players stay in Babia and entrust themselves to Iñaki Peña. The goalkeeper was superb in rejecting Yaremchuk's half-turned shot. Valencia played with tension while Barcelona patterned the play and tried to secure the pass, very attentive to the ball coming out at De Jong's feet. The Dutchman took the lead helped by Pedri while Gündogan hung between the lines and Lewandowski complained about Diakhaby's tackles. There was no current in Barça football. Valencia played with more energy.
![Joao Felix finishes in an acrobatic way.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/IFXrZ47cvTZIQvaPx9hu5VSCDSg=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/H76W2PLXK5BJNH2ICUN5K47FCM.jpg)
The Blaugrana simply floated the Valencians, who easily advanced to the rival field and instead defended hard in their area, very aware of Lewandowski. The activity of the striker, who was finally more present and alert on the opposing court, allowed the Barcelona fans to progress little by little and begin to shoot at Mamardashvili's goal. The goalkeeper was as firm as Barça's forwards were misguided. A cleaner and more oxygenated Barça team progressively appeared, protagonist with the ball and animated by Cancelo's side. Valencia, however, did not disengage from the game and their transitions were more malicious than Barcelona's plays.
Xavi asked his players to be less in a hurry and to deploy with more head to avoid losses and give more continuity to the game in a very open match with a great environmental load due to the strength of Mestalla. The Barça motto was to finish the plays, and above all to refine their aim, after counting seven shots, three between Mamardashvili's sticks. Gündogan did not find out because the German made a mistake when completing an excellent combination with assistance from Cancelo. He was right, however, immediately after João Felix, alone in the goalmouth, to push the ball served by Raphinha, very deep to receive Frenkie de Jong's precise pass.
The match was perfect for Barcelona, to the despair of Valencia. The Blaugrana, however, were overconfident, convinced that the second goal would fall due to inertia, without even needing to blow, and not only did they not know how to finish the game but they conceded the tie before the mestalla revelry. Hugo Guillamón hit a right-footed shot into the left corner of Peña's goal after an apparently innocuous action that was very poorly defended by Barcelona's passive defense. The tie flattened the Blaugrana at times, stunned by their lack of punch, weak in the areas, especially in the opposing area, as was noted on two occasions by Ferran and Raphinha.
Under the command of De Jong, the Barcelona fans continued to appear in the Valencia area. Football was as fluid as it was denied at a time when results prevailed in Barça after a chain of two defeats and conceding seven goals in matches against Girona and Antwerp. The finals demand victories and Barça lacks security and faith, too discontinuous and also insecure and even disbelieving to even compete in the League. Victory is impossible when you give away a ridiculous goal and are as lenient in the shot as happened at Mestalla. Although the game ended up leading to victory for Barça, the team is now so pressed that on the field the tie tasted like frustration in Valencia.
![Valencia midfielder Hugo Guillamón celebrates Valencia CF's draw.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/hbXCyh8pkcR7dOmfW0K1v-3yrDg=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/FDIX32ITRRDIVEGMDUQYLXJ57I.jpg)
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