Barcelona lost the fourth La Liga match of the season and the first under new manager Quique Setien as Valencia beat them 2-0 at the Mestalla Stadium on Saturday.
An own goal from Jordi Alba and a late strike from Maxi Gomez have given Real Madrid the chance to go three points clear at the top of the table when they play Real Valladolid on Sunday.
The decision to replace Ernesto Valverde with Setien will be subjected to early doubts as in his first match, too, the Catalan giants struggled to see the back of the net and somehow managed to won courtesy of two late goals by Antoine Griezmann.
On Saturday, despite dominating possession Barcelona lacked clarity in their approach which helped Valencia grow in confidence as the match progressed.
The plan to sit back and absorb did wonders for Valencia as the visitors failed to make any cut through. With the win, Valencia have climbed to the fifth position in the points table.
Whatever little they attacked, Valencia were the more dangerous side and Barcelona were riding their luck. Pique’s flicked header landed at the feet of Gomez whose shot flew in after taking a deflection off Alba in the 48th minute as the Blaugaranas stood amazed with their comedy of errors.
The effort to go level was led by Lionel Messi and just when an equaliser looked inevitable the home team struck again to extend Barcelona’s agony. Gomez scored in the 77th minute after throw caught Alba out of position and Ferran Torres found him open.