Barcelona: Valencia proved that they can mix it with the big guns in La Liga after playing out a 2-2 draw against Barcelona at the Mestalla on Wednesday evening.
The hosts went into half time with a 2-1 advantage after an own goal from Eric Abidal and a Pablo Hernandez strike. However, a Pedro effort in the first half and a Cesc Fabregas strike late in the second period gave Pep Guardiola's men a share of the points, in what was an enthralling, end-to-end encounter.
The home side took the lead over the champions in the 12th minute when Jeremy Mathieu made a strong run down the left hand side and fizzed a ball into the Barcelona penalty area where Eric Abidal accidentally glanced the ball into his own net.
This lead was short lived, however, as the visitors equalised just two minutes later when Lionel Messi slipped a pass down the left of the Valencia box for Pedro who managed to squeeze the ball past Guaita at his near post with a left footed shot. Barcelona grew into the game from this moment, and perhaps should have had a penalty when Rami brought down Messi in the penalty area.
Valencia regained the lead half way through the first half, when Mathieu, again, drove to the byline and whipped in a cross , and this time it was Pablo who came in totally unmarked at the back post and finished expertly with a first time shot into the bottom right corner.
In front of a vibrant Mestalla crowd, the hosts took the game to the champions in the first half, constantly stifling Barcelona's attacks with intense pressing and brilliant anticipation. They were always a threat on the counter attack and should have took a two goal lead when Roberto Soldado got on the end of another Mathieu cross but agonizingly missed from a yard.
The second half was a tighter affair than the first period, with both sides involves in a midfield battle. However it was Barcelona who looked most likely to score and they eventually grabbed the equaliser when Lionel Messi clipped a pass over the Valencia defence to Cesc Fabregas who coolly passed the ball into the bottom left corner.
Pep Guardiola's side probed for a winner in the last few but Unai Emery's men remained solid to hold out for an impressive victory.
This result leaves Barcelona 4th place in La Liga whereas Valencia find themselves proudly top of the table with an unbeaten record so far.
Valencia remained the overnight leaders with 10 points, one better than Real Betis and Malaga, who beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 thanks to Santi Cazorla's exquisite second-half free kick. Bilbao have now lost three straight games under new coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Barcelona have eight points while Madrid are left with seven. Atletico Madrid also have seven after Radamel Falcao continued his impressive start in Spain by scoring a brace to lead the club to a 4-0 victory over winless Sporting Gijon.
Real Betis can go top with 12 points with a fourth straight win to start the season on Thursday when Zaragoza visit the newly-promoted club.
In the Spanish capital, Atletico completely outplayed last-place Sporting with Falcao scoring twice in a nine-minute span following an own-goal by Alberto Lora and a header from Alvaro Dominguez. The former FC Porto striker has five goals in two games to join Messi and Soldado as joint-leader. Cazorla and Ronaldo are next with four each.
"Without a doubt, we have signed a great striker that is going to be on the level of the great scorers in Spain like Messi and Ronaldo," Atletico coach Gregorio Manzano said.
Elsewhere, Levante got their second straight win with a 2-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano.
On Tuesday, Villarreal beat Mallorca 2-0 for their first win of the season. Sevilla drew 0-0 at Osasuna, and Real Sociedad edged Granada 1-0.
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