Sergio Aguero made his first La Liga appearance since he scored a hat-trick against Mallorca for Atletico Madrid as a 22-year-old back in May 2011
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-upsMatch StatsLive Text
Line-upsBarcelona
Formation 4-3-3
1ter Stegen20Roberto3Piqué24García18Alba21de Jong5Busquets30Paez Gaviria2Dest9Depay10Fati Vieira
- 1ter Stegen20RobertoSubstituted forMinguezaat 71'minutes3Piqué24García18Alba21de Jong5BusquetsBooked at 32mins30Paez GaviriaBooked at 20minsSubstituted forGonzález Iglesiasat 71'minutes2DestSubstituted forAgüeroat 87'minutes9Depay10Fati VieiraSubstituted forCoutinhoat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Puig Martí11Demir13Murara Neto14Coutinho15Lenglet17de Jong19Agüero22Mingueza23Umtiti26Peña Sotorres28González Iglesias31Balde Martínez
Valencia
Formation 4-1-4-1
13Cillessen20Foulquier5Gabriel12Diakhaby14Gayà6Guillamón19Duro10Soler18Wass7Gonçalo Guedes9Gómez
- 13Cillessen20FoulquierBooked at 63minsSubstituted forMusahat 75'minutes5Gabriel12Diakhaby14GayàBooked at 39mins6GuillamónSubstituted forHélder Costaat 86'minutes19DuroSubstituted forde Sousa Mendonçaat 59'minutes10Soler18Wass7Gonçalo GuedesSubstituted forCheryshevat 75'minutes9GómezBooked at 82minsSubstituted forVallejo Galvánat 86'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Doménech4Musah8Racic11Hélder Costa17Cheryshev21Vallejo Galván22de Sousa Mendonça23Remeseiro Salgueiro28Mamardashvili32Vázquez37Mosquera
Referee:Jesús Gil ManzanoAttendance:47,317Match StatsHome TeamBarcelonaAway TeamValenciaPossessionHome61%Away39%ShotsHome12Away9Shots on TargetHome5Away3CornersHome9Away3FoulsHome16Away13Live TextPost update
Match ends, Barcelona 3, Valencia 1.
90'+4'Full Time
Second Half ends, Barcelona 3, Valencia 1.
90'+2'Post update
Attempt missed. Jordi Alba (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high following a corner.
90'+1'Post update
Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Gabriel Paulista.
90'Post update
Corner, Valencia. Conceded by Nicolás González Iglesias.
88'Post update
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.
87'Substitution
Substitution, Barcelona. Sergio Agüero replaces Sergiño Dest.
86'Substitution
Substitution, Valencia. Hélder Costa replaces Hugo Guillamón.
86'Substitution
Substitution, Valencia. Manu Vallejo replaces Maximiliano Gómez.
85'goalGoal!
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.
84'Post update
Attempt missed. Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right from a direct free kick.
83'Post update
Foul by Sergio Busquets (Barcelona).
83'Post update
Marcos André (Valencia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
82'Booking
Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
82'Post update
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
82'Post update
Foul by Maximiliano Gómez (Valencia).
81'Post update
Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Mouctar Diakhaby.
81'Post update
Attempt blocked. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jordi Alba.
80'Post update
Foul by Gerard Piqué (Barcelona).
80'Post update
Gabriel Paulista (Valencia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Source: bbc.com