Got back to the hotel from Mestalla, relieved that we got a point but I am not happy with our performance at all. The first half we had total domination of the ball but we couldn't do anything because our attacking game relied SOLELY on Messi taking the ball and trying to dribble past players to create something and when that failed, we didn't know what to do since there is no Plan B, so we tried the same drill again. Messi was playing very deep and he tried to initiate every single attacking play, mostly through the middle but it simply did not work. There was almost zero wing play, at least in the first half I felt Semedo didn't even go forward once to Valencia'a penalty box as we were sitting right next to that area. The second half we sat back and let them have a go at us, our midfield fell apart and provided no protection when we lost the ball, and if Valencia had been better with finishing or how they handled the final play, they could have scored two more goals. We were fucked by the referee for that Messi goal but we were saved by the ref a few times I felt, at least one penalty could have been called. Overall I am happy that we came away with a point but I am really frustrated by how singular our game plan is.
Iniesta had a few spurts of highlights but that was pretty much it. Paulinho was OK I thought, I thought he had a several crucial interceptions. Semedo was good defensively but offensively he did nothing other than passing the ball to Rakitic. Denis was a bright spot after he came on, at least he mananged to offer another outlet for our attacking game.
Mestalla was great, almost as good as many German stadiums. I really wish we had that kind of environment at Camp Nou. Valencia fans treated us very well, there was kindness everywhere.