Madrid, Mar 3: In a La Liga match on Mar 02, Lionel Messi gave hopes only to falter but eventually he managed to convert one more hope to reality and that was enough for his side Barcelona to sneak through against Valencia.

The 1-0 victory ensured that Barcelona stretch their lead over Real Madrid to 10 points.

In the 77th minute of the match, Messi scored the match's only goal and his 27th overall in this season. Consequently, Barcelona are now sitting pretty on 71 points from 26 matches while Messi remains the clear leader in terms of total goal scored.

Barcelona are now unbeaten in their last 20 away matches, a La Liga record while also winning 12 out of their 13 away matches this season.

Messi was brilliant, as usual but this time Valencia's defence was equally up to the task.

He had his first shot at scoring in the ninth minute of the match but Valenica's strong defence ensured that he had to wait. Thrice in quick succession, was his shot at the goal post vanquished.

In the 31st minute of the match did he manage to get past the defence, but the ball landed on the roof of the net. The first half ended without a goal from either side, but what was most impressive was the desperation shown by the defenders of Valencia. Messi was nimble, but Valencia's defence was alert enough to thwart his brilliance.

In the end he did manage to go past the defence and score a goal in the 77th minute of the match, and that was enough to take Barcelona home.

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