Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga to seven, but made tough work of their unimpressive 1-0 home win over Real Valladolid.
Ernesto Valverde make a number of changes to his team, resting Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic ahead of a packed schedule which will start with a Champions League trip to Lyon on Tuesday. Ousmane Dembele started after returning from injury, with Carles Alena and Kevin-Prince Boateng also handed a place in the team.
This resulted in Barca turning in a disjointed performance from the start, only taking the lead through a Lionel Messi penalty two minutes before half time after Gerard Pique was fouled in the box.
The hosts upped their tempo for the second half, but still struggled to break down a stubborn opposition backline. Suarez was introduced off the bench, but spurned a series of golden opportunity, with Messi seeing a late penalty kick saved by the impressive Jordi Masip.
Source: Wires
