SETTABLOID

The home crowd in attendance at Barcelona’s meeting with Valencia on Monday night made use of the opportunity to send a message of support to head coach Xavi.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona survived a tricky first half to beat Valencia 4-2 with the help of a second half hat trick from Robert Lewandowski and a red card to Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili on Monday.

On a rainy night in Catalonia, the home side dominated possession but was behind at the break due to two defensive errors.

Fermín López put Barcelona ahead with a lovely glancing header midway through the first half.

Valencia levelled just five minutes later thanks to a woeful intervention from keeper Marc Ter Stegen. He intercepted a long ball 25 yards from his goal but he tried to be too fancy and Hugo Duro easily dispossessed him and ran the ball into the empty net.

Before halftime, Valencia took the lead thanks to another elementary mistake. Ronald Araújo’s mistimed tackle felled Peter Federico in the box and Pepelu coolly converted the spot kick.

The balance of the match changed moments before the break when Mamardashvili used a hand outside the box to thwart a scoring chance by Lamine Yamal and was red-carded.

Lewandoski headed an equalizer from a corner kick after 50 minutes. However, it took Barcelona until the 82nd to regain the lead from another Lewandowski header after Valencia failed to clear another corner.

The hat trick came in the third minute of stoppage time from a 25-yard free kick.

“It wasn’t easy,” Lewandowski said. “In the first half we didn’t find any space in attack.”

Barcelona replaced Girona in second place and was 11 points behind Real Madrid. Madrid needs five from its last five matches to guarantee a 36th Spanish league title.

A comedy of errors at the Olympic Montjuic Stadium tonight as Barcelona hosted Valencia for gameweek 33 of La Liga.

The Catalans were pushing for a spot in next season’s Spanish Super Cup, and ahead of their game vs Girona next weekend, nothing short of a win would have sufficed tonight.

Fermin Lopez was the star of the show in the first-half, and came up with the goods at the first time of asking with a spectacular header from a Raphinha cross.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo did not let Barça’s lead stand for too long, though, with the former giving away the ball in front of an open goal, and the latter conceding a penalty.

Robert Lewandowski came up clutch in the second-half, though, scoring two headers from two set-pieces and getting Barcelona all three points.

The Pole did not stop at his second, though, and took over free-kick duties from Ferran Torres late in the game to score a beautiful free-kick to ensure his second hattrick in Barcelona colours.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen: 2.5

Ter Stegen made a huge mistake that started the downhill trend of the game as he was unnecessarily tried to chip Hugo Duro, but was caught out.

Jules Kounde: 7

More than decent in possession, Kounde was in the right place at the right time more often than not on both ends of the pitch. Stopped a counter-attack or two single-handedly, and aided Fermin and Yamal going forward.

Ronald Araujo: 6

Much like the PSG game, Araujo made another emotionally-charged challenge – on Peter Gonzalez -, that led to a penalty. He was having a rather solid game before that, too.

Had several attempts at goal through corners while trying to make up for his error, and eventually came up with the assist for Lewandowski’s goal – completely unintentionally, though.

Pau Cubarsi: 5

Uncharacteristically sloppy in possession, Cubarsi looked far from his best tonight. Was replaced at the break for Inigo Martinez.

Joao Cancelo: 6

Decent going forward, Cancelo was able to take up the space left by Raphinha by dragging the fullback in. He had a solid sight at goal, too but was kept out by Giorgi Mamardashvii.

Fermin Lopez: 8

The star of the show tonight, Fermin made the most of his start once again, and was on the scoresheet for the second game running as he found space inside the box and headed in a brilliant header.

Should have stayed on the pitch as the only player making off-the-ball runs.

Andreas Christensen: 7

Christensen was as composed as he can be while playing as a 6. Controlled the game like a seasoned pivot and held his ground well.

Ilkay Gundogan: 7.5

Had too much responsibilty off-the-ball agianst Valencia’s deep-block, and even on a quieter night for him, came up with an assist.

Lamine Yamal: 7.5

The magnet for the ball today, Yamal kept stretching the pitch to make space in Valencia’s deep-block. Made some tremendous runs into the box, and helped get Mamardashvili sent off with good pressing.

Robert Lewandowski: 9.5

A ghostly first-half followed by an absurdly clutch performance from Lewandowski, who scored a hattrick. A superb first goal from a corner, followed by an instinctive header into an open net and a sensational free-kick to top it all off.

What a way to round show up after all the talk about his future earlier today. Man of the match.

Raphinha: 7

A bang-average outing for Raphinha for his own standards recently. Could not find space behind Thierry Correia, but did well to stretch the pitch and defend on the counter. Also came up with the assist for Fermin Lopez with an incredible cross.

Sergi Roberto: 7

Composed and mobile, Roberto put up a solid second-half performance. Complemented Gundogan and Pedri well, especially out of possession.

Inigo Martinez: 7.5

Came on at the break, and almost immediately made an incredible tackle inside the box that was a millisecond away from being a penalty. Inigo’s distribution was top class, too, as always.

Joao Felix: 5.5

Attempted a fair few solutions, none of which eventually worked out for Felix after coming on.

Pedri: 7

A brilliant cameo once again, Pedri showed his quality while defending the first counter-attack itself, making a brilliant last-man tackle inside the box.

Ferran Torres: 6

A decent cameo from Ferran, who clearly wanted to score tonight tonight. Won the free-kick that led to the fourth goal, as well.

Since his first team debut in January, the youngster Pau Cubarsi has established himself as a trusted component of Xavi’s team. The defender has been playing at such a high level in these few months that he has gone on to become one of the starting defenders for the Barcelona head coach.

The young defender has never been afraid of stopping attackers having a vastly greater experience than him and rarely makes a mistake.

However, his best quality still remains his passing, which Xavi has utilised to break lines and provide good balls to the interior midfielders and forwards playing in the channel.

Furthermore, as SPORT has noted, there is another role that sometimes goes under the radar, but one which has also had a significant impact on the team.

Xavi has been stationing the centre-back near the opposition goalkeeper whenever his team wins a corner or another set-piece, with the purpose of hindering the goalkeeper’s movements. This approach has paid significant dividends for his team, as the team’s productivity from set-piece actions has increased.

Only in the last league game against Real Madrid, Cubarsi played this role as he contained Lunin, and Christensen took advantage of this situation to score the first goal of the game for Barcelona.

This was also the case in the match against Paris Saint Germain, which also resulted in a confrontation between Cubarsi and the Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma.

TBR Football understands Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all showing an interest in landing Barcelona’s defensive starlet Pau Cubarsi.

The 17-year-old centre-half is the latest graduate of the famed La Masia academy to make his first-team breakthrough this season and he has featured in nearly 20 games for Xavi’s side this term.

Sources have confirmed to TBR that a host of sides have been checking on Cubarsi’s situation and via intermediates, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have made their interest known to the teenager’s camp.

Arsenal make contact with Barcelona defender’s agents

Cubarsi’s current deal runs to just 2026 and has a release clause of just £12 million and sources have confirmed to TBR Football that Barcelona are working hard to complete a new deal and are confident that Cubarsi will shun the option of moving to England to remain with the Catalan giants.

Barcelona have offered him a long-term deal until 2029 and are hopeful he agrees within the next few weeks.

Mikel Arteta keen to bolster options in defence

TBR confirmed on Friday that Arsenal are looking at bringing in a new left-back this summer.

Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Ryan Ait-Nouri is on their radar, with Manchester City also keen.

Arsenal’s issues at left-back have been evident this season, with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko picking up injuries since the turn of the year.

Jakub Kiwior has performed well as a makeshift left-back but is arguably more suited to providing cover for Gabriel Magalhaes.

While centre-back is less of a concern for Arsenal due to William Saliba and Gabriel’s brilliant partnership, they do lack depth in the position.

FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez will make some changes to his line up when the Catalans host Valencia at the Montjuic Stadium on Monday evening in La Liga.

Barca goes into the tie 14 points bitter rivals Real Madrid with a game in hand.

During his prematch press conference at the weekend, Xavi practically surrendered the top flight crown his men won in spring last year and set fresh objectives for the rest of the season.

After losing El Clasico and a Champions League quarterfinal second leg to Paris Saint-Germain, the Blaugrana’s goal is “to finish second and qualify for the Super Cup”.

Standing in Barca’s way of managing to do that in an immediate sense is Valencia, who Xavi described as a “very deserving opponent” which has enjoyed an “extraordinary” La Liga campaign while boasting “a lot of speed up front”, great work in transition and a punishing counter-attack.

To take them on, Xavi will make some changes compared to the outfit that lost 3-2 to Madrid in the Bernabeu.

Captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen keeps his place in goal and so does every member of the backline made up of Joao Cancelo, Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde from left to right.

Center back Andreas Christensen is the pivot, but a season-ending injury to Frenkie de Jong means that it is Fermin Lopez who partners Ilkay Gundogan in the more advanced midfield positions.

For the second straight game, Pedri is overlooked by his head coach, but Xavi said that he is “100%!” ready to help his team which might mean minutes in the second half.

On the front line, Robert Lewandowski is the striker flanked by Lamine Yamal to his right and Ferran Torres who demotes Raphinha from the left wing to the bench.

With Girona away next weekend, this Valencia tie is a chance for Barca to get back to winning ways.

Considering torrential rain in Barcelona on Monday, however, and the fact that this fixture was changed from a family-friendly time of 14.00 Saturday afternoon to this evening at 21.00, just how many Culers turn out to cheer their team on remains to be seen.

FC Barcelona Starting XI Vs. Valencia: Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Cubarsi, Araujo, Kounde; Christensen, Gundogan, Fermin; Ferran, Lewandowski, Lamine

Market opportunities are something FC Barcelona tend to look out for a lot these days. Given their financial constraints, it is not hard to imagine why exactly the Catalans prefer to operate that way. However, certain names that pop up as links to Barcelona are simply unavoidable for them.

Yet, not every link is made to a player who Barcelona would desperately need to bring in. The Catalan giants, especially in the wake of their limitations, have to be very precise with the profiles that they pursue. Keeping that in mind, however, it would be unwise not to take major public statements for granted.

Such a scenario has already occurred in the past with Joao Felix, who is now at Barcelona on rather favorable terms of the Catalan giants. Interestingly, another La Liga star has just recently proclaimed something along the lines of what Felix himself once stated publicly.

As brought forward by the ever-reliable Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Spanish midfielder and Villarreal star Alex Baena has just recently proclaimed his admiration for FC Barcelona and his desire to play for the club:

“I’d love to play for Barça! It’s one of my biggest dreams – it’s the best team in the world.”

Such a huge proclamation, while still being contracted to Villarreal until 2028, is no small occurrence. He even further made it official that he has an active release clause in his contract and what exactly the amount associated with it is:

“The release clause is there and €60 million are needed to sign me.”

In this case, Baena is practically offering himself to Barcelona with these statements. Aged just 22, Baena is one of the most creative and effectively progressive players in the Spanish First Division. In La Liga alone, he has scored 3 goals and provided 12 assists across 30 appearances.

Moreover, being able to do so within a Villarreal side that is clearly not at its best, sitting in 9th place, is even more impressive.

While he is not the defensive pivot that Barcelona wants, nor is he an out-and-out winger, he fits the type of player that can be game-changing for the Spanish giants. This rather interesting development will be quite the watch for those associated with Barcelona as the summer transfer window unfolds.

With their hopes of retaining the La Liga title all but gone, Barcelona have little to play for down the stretch and they’re next in action against Valencia on Monday night.

It’s been yet another chaotic period in the world of Barcelona, with Xavi’s U-turn regarding his future arriving after his side collapsed in the Champions League quarter-finals and lost El Clasico to champions-elect Real Madrid.

Having announced he’ll be stepping down as manager at the end of the season in January, it was revealed on Wednesday that Xavi will remain as Barcelona’s head coach for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

His initial decision sparked a 13-game unbeaten run, so it’ll be interesting to see the effect his U-turn has on the Barcelona squad during the final month of the season.

On Monday they’ll be facing a Valencia side that have enjoyed a resurgent campaign with Ruben Baraja at the helm. After finishing 16th last term, Valencia currently occupy eighth in La Liga and have an outside shot of securing European football. This is certainly a big game for the visitors.

Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.

What time does Barcelona vs Valencia kick-off?

• Location: Barcelona, Spain
• Stadium: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys
• Date: Monday 29 April
• Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
• Referee: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoechea
• VAR: Santiago Jaime Latre

Barcelona vs Valencia H2H Record (Last Five Games)

• Barcelona: 4 wins
• Valencia: 0 wins
• Draws: 1

• Last meeting: Valencia 1-1 Barcelona (16 December 2023) – La Liga

Current form (all competitions)

How to watch Barcelona vs Valencia on TV and live stream

Barcelona team news

An insight into the plans of Barcelona head coach Xavi when it comes to his line-up to face Valencia has on Sunday been provided.

Barca, of course, are set to return to action tomorrow night, when the Blaugrana welcome Rubén Baraja’s Valencia to Montjuïc, for a La Liga clash.

Though they are now firmly out of the title race, the fixture remains an important one for Barca, with Xavi having made clear the importance of finishing 2nd in the Spanish top-flight.

As much comes with a place in the Supercopa de España on the line.

As a result, a strong XI is expected to take to the pitch for the hosts in Catalunya’s capital.

If the latest word stemming from the media is anything to go by, though, changes are nevertheless expected to the line-up which took to the pitch in last weekend’s El Clásico.

As per a report from Diario Sport, all of Héctor Fort, Fermín López and Ferran Torres are pushing hard for starting berths.

Tipped to make way for such inclusions, meanwhile, are João Cancelo, the sidelined Frenkie de Jong, and one of Lamine Yamal, or Raphinha.

An up-and-coming member of the first-team ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona is in line to play an altogether prominent role for the club over the remaining weeks of the campaign.