Barça visit Mestalla for one of the biggest games of the league season so far. Valencia have won three out of three so far but now face a Barça side that is unbeaten in six meetings since Guardiola and Emery have managed the respective sides.
Valencia v Barça is one of the biggest games in Spain and this meeting brings together the
defending champions and one of the strongest pretenders to the throne. Barça look to be back on
track after the setback at Anoeta after dishing out an 8-0 drubbing to Osasuna. Now they start a
difficult week that involves meetings on Wednesday with Valencia and Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
They both promise to be gripping encounters.
Valencia: top marks so far
Unai Emery’s side could not have wished for a better start. Three out of
three. They beat both Atletico Madrid and Sporting by a single goal and then came from 3-1 down
against Racing to win thanks to a hat-trick from Soldado.
The situation was similar when the sides first met last season. Valencia visited the Camp Nou
in game 7 as first division leaders and looked very strong in the first half, when they went ahead
thanks to Pablo Hernández. Barça were back to their usual selves after the break and secured three
dramatic points following goals from Iniesta and Puyol, which was one of the major turning points
of the season.
Guardiola unbeaten against Emery
It is evidently never easier to play at Mestalla, but Guardiola has never lost a
match as a manager there. The sides drew 2-2 in the 2008/09 to as good as win the title for
Barcelona. Two years ago, they game ended 0-0 after an international break and last March, Messi
latched onto a wonderful assist from Adriano to push Barça closer to a third consecutive Liga
title. To add to that record, Guardiola has never lost Emery’s side at the Camp Nou either.