Sergio Aguero made his long-awaited Barcelona debut as Philippe Coutinho’s first goal in almost a year helped secure victory against Valencia.
Aguero joined Barcelona in the summer after leaving Manchester City but had been sidelined by injury.
He came on with three minutes to go, shortly after Coutinho had made sure of Barcelona’s win.
The former Liverpool forward struck from close range to add to goals from Ansu Fati and Memphis Depay.
Jose Gaya had given the visitors an early lead but Fati marked his first start in almost a year with a goal soon after, firing home from the edge of the box.
Fati was then fouled inside the box and Depay stepped up to convert the penalty.
As Valencia pushed for an equaliser Coutinho scored for the first time since a 4-0 win against Osasuna in November 2020 to secure the win.
Barcelona are on 15 points, five behind leaders Real Sociedad.
Line-ups
Barcelona
Formation 4-3-3
- 1ter Stegen
- 20RobertoSubstituted forMinguezaat 71′minutes
- 3Piqué
- 24García
- 18Alba
- 21de Jong
- 5BusquetsBooked at 32mins
- 30Paez GaviriaBooked at 20minsSubstituted forGonzález Iglesiasat 71′minutes
- 2DestSubstituted forAgüeroat 87′minutes
- 9Depay
- 10Fati VieiraSubstituted forCoutinhoat 59′minutes
Substitutes
- 6Puig Martí
- 11Demir
- 13Murara Neto
- 14Coutinho
- 15Lenglet
- 17de Jong
- 19Agüero
- 22Mingueza
- 23Umtiti
- 26Peña Sotorres
- 28González Iglesias
- 31Balde Martínez
Valencia
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 13Cillessen
- 20FoulquierBooked at 63minsSubstituted forMusahat 75′minutes
- 5Gabriel
- 12Diakhaby
- 14GayàBooked at 39mins
- 6GuillamónSubstituted forHélder Costaat 86′minutes
- 19DuroSubstituted forde Sousa Mendonçaat 59′minutes
- 10Soler
- 18Wass
- 7Gonçalo GuedesSubstituted forCheryshevat 75′minutes
- 9GómezBooked at 82minsSubstituted forVallejo Galvánat 86′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Doménech
- 4Musah
- 8Racic
- 11Hélder Costa
- 17Cheryshev
- 21Vallejo Galván
- 22de Sousa Mendonça
- 23Remeseiro Salgueiro
- 28Mamardashvili
- 32Vázquez
- 37Mosquera
- Referee:
- Jesús Gil Manzano
- Attendance:
- 47,317
Live Text
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Match ends, Barcelona 3, Valencia 1.
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Second Half ends, Barcelona 3, Valencia 1.
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Attempt missed. Jordi Alba (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high following a corner.
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Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Gabriel Paulista.
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Corner, Valencia. Conceded by Nicolás González Iglesias.
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Attempt missed. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Memphis Depay.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Sergio Agüero replaces Sergiño Dest.
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Substitution, Valencia. Hélder Costa replaces Hugo Guillamón.
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Substitution, Valencia. Manu Vallejo replaces Maximiliano Gómez.
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Goal! Barcelona 3, Valencia 1. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Sergiño Dest.
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Attempt missed. Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right from a direct free kick.
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Foul by Sergio Busquets (Barcelona).
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Marcos André (Valencia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia).
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Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Mouctar Diakhaby.
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Attempt blocked. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jordi Alba.
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Foul by Gerard Piqué (Barcelona).
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Gabriel Paulista (Valencia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
