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Valencia shocked their hosts, Barcelona, during Saturday's La Liga fixture. Valencia took a two-goal lead before half-time against La Liga leaders Barcelona. A Kevin Gameiro goal and a Dani Parejo penalty saw Valencia dominate the first twenty minutes of the game. Lionel Messi scored for a ninth consecutive match, a brace this time, which earned Barcelona a 2-2 draw against Valencia. Messi reduced Valencia's lead with a brilliant equalizer at the 26th minute, and got Barcelona level at the 64th minute.  Jordi Alba's presence was greatly missed in the first half of the game - Barcelona are much better at attacking when they have Alba as an outlet on the left flank. The face of the game completely changed once he stepped in, in the second half.  50 - Lionel Messi is the third player in @LaLigaEN history to score 50 penalty goals, after Cristiano Ronaldo (61) and Hugo Sanchez (56). Milestone. pic.twitter.com/7oDJL2BhFT — OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 2, 2019 ...

Barcelona faced Girona at Estadi Montilivi on Sunday in a La Liga clash. Barcelona was able to restore their five point lead atop the La Liga table with goals from Nelson Semedo and Lionel Messi. Nelson Semedo gave Barcelona an early lead inside the opening 10 minutes in the game - his first goal for Barcelona, and Messi scored Barcelona's second goal - after being set up by Jordi Alba - twenty minutes into stoppage. Girona''s Cristhian Stuani made three concrete attempts to equalize but was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stergen all attempts. Things got tougher for Girona after Bernardo Espinosa was sent off for a second booking, at the 51st minute. Philippe Coutinho still put up a dull show, made a number of misplaced passes, and looked low on confidence. He also wasted two scoring opportunities, one being from Messi in the first half, and another in stoppage time. Barcelona are now at 49 points after 21 games, 5 points ahead of nearest challengers Atletico Madrid. Lion...

Barcelona return to first place in the La Liga table with their 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo today. That's a guaranteed merry Christmas for the Catalans. Barcelona now have 37 points, while Atletico Madrid follows closely with 34. Sevilla may join the Rojiblancos in second place after their game tomorrow. Former Borussia Dortmund man, Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi scored Barcelona's two goals. When you score you're 1⃣0⃣th goal in minute 1⃣0⃣ . . . You pop that cork, @Dembouz ! 🎉🎉🎉 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/GSgFBTPzLd — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 22, 2018 Celta were close to scoring in the third minute when Nestor Araujo headed the ball over the crossbar, following a corner. But seven minutes later, the Catalan side took the lead with a goal from Dembele. Good link up play between Jordi Alba and Messi created an opportunity for Messi which resulted in a shot saved by Ruben. Dembele was in close range, and turned the ball in. B...