On Monday, April 29, the match of the 33rd round of the Spanish La Liga took place, in which Barcelona hosted Valencia.
The first half of the match turned out to be very eventful.
First, in the 22nd minute, Fermin Lopez headed in a cross from the flank by Raphinha.
But five minutes later, Marc-Andre ter Stegen demonstrated that his ball reception was clearly not at the level of Manuel Neuer. Hugo Duro took advantage of the goalkeeper's gift.
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In the 38th minute, Ronald Araujo attempted to intercept the ball in his own penalty area. It turned out unsuccessfully for the Uruguayan – the centerback knocked down his opponent, for which the referee rightly awarded a penalty. Ash beat Ter Stegen from the spot.
And already in stoppage time it was Giorgi Mamardashvili’s turn to present his opponent with a gift. The Georgian national team goalkeeper played with his hand outside the penalty area. The referee, after watching the replay, showed him a straight red card.
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The plan for the second half of the game for Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja was simple: fight back and hope for counterattacks.
However, things didn't go according to the bats' plan in the very first minutes of the second half, when Robert Lewandowski scored with a header from Ilkay Gundogan's corner.
Then came the scoring lull, which was interrupted by the same Lewandowski, and in a similar style. In stoppage time, the Polish forward scored a hat-trick with a masterful free-kick.
Source: Getty Images
Barcelona returned to second place and guaranteed participation in the Champions League next season.
Valencia lost the opportunity to bypass or get closer to Betis, which is in the Conference League zone. Roman Yaremchuk's team remained eighth with 47 points.
Read also: Lewandowski: My departure from Barcelona this summer is impossible
Statistics of the match Barcelona – Valencia of the 33rd round of La Liga
Barcelona – Valencia 4:2
Goals : F. Lopez 22, Lewandowski 49, 82, 90+3 – Duro 27, Pepelu 38 (pen).
Expected Goals (xG): 2.17 – 2.11
Ball possession: 80% – 20%
Strikes: 27 – 5
Shots on target: 13 – 3
Fouls: 12 – 5
Barcelona : ter Stegen – Kounde, Araujo, Kubarsi (Martinez 46), Cancelo (Torres 80) – Gundogan, Christensen (Roberto 46), F. Lopez (Pedri, 73) – Yamal, Lewandowski, Rafinha (Felix, 66).
Valencia : Mamardashvili – Correia, Mosquera, Gasiorowski, Vazquez – Federico (Ozkacar, 79), Guerra (Guillamon, 70), Pepelu, D. Lopez (Canos, 79) – Almeida (Domenech, 45+6), Duro (Marie, 70).
Warning : Kubarsi.
Removal : Mamardashvili, 45+4 (Valencia, straight red card).
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