Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi capped off Barcelona's second-half comeback against Alaves to maintain their 11-point La Liga lead. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi capped off Barcelona's second-half comeback against Alaves to maintain their 11-point La Liga lead. Late goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a comeback win over Alaves, protecting the hosts' 11-point lead in La Liga. Lionel Messi discusses Barca's recent tough clash with Espanyol and the latest additions of Philippe Coutinho and Yerry Mina.
BARCELONA -- Ernesto Valverde admitted Barcelona dodged a bullet as they came from behind to beat Alaves 2-1 to extend their unbeaten start to the La Liga campaign to 21 games.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored in the final 20 minutes after John Guidetti had given Alaves a surprise first-half lead at Camp Nou, restoring Barca's 11-point lead at the top of the table after Atletico Madrid's win against Las Palmas earlier on Sunday.
However, Alaves were left feeling aggrieved as they were denied a late penalty when Samuel Umtiti handled the ball in the area.
"I've not seen it again," Valverde said in his postgame news conference. "[Alaves] complained that there was a handball. I see it from a Barcelona perspective, of course, and I think that it was involuntary. I don't know.
"I asked Umtiti and save cutting off his hand we don't think there's anything else he can do about it. For me it's involuntary, but everyone will see it from their own point of view."
Barcelona extended their La Liga unbeaten run to 21 games with Sunday's win.
Barca have had decisions go against them this season, including a clear Messi goal not given at Valencia in November, and Valverde made reference to that as he continued his defence of Umtiti.
"Sometimes the ball goes in and you don't get a goal, other times this can happen," he added. "There are always controversial moments in games, sometimes they go against us, other times they go in our favour."
Overall, though, Valverde was relieved to pick up the three points after spending almost 50 minutes behind chasing the Basque side.
"Without a doubt," he said when asked if Barca had rode their luck at times. "We're in a tough phase of the season, with a lot of games close together, midweek, weekend, and that leads to lots of wear and tear.
"We just played a really tense game on Thursday [against Espanyol] and are straight back at it tonight. If you get the first goal and are in front, it's easier but if not ... I have the feeling that we have dodged a bullet."
Valverde handed a full debut to record signing Philippe Coutinho, although the Brazilian was removed just after the hour mark having offered little more than a few nice touches and passes.
"He needs time like anyone," the coach said of the €160 million signing from Liverpool. "Players aren't machines, they can't walk into a new team and work perfectly straight away, they need to adapt.
"But I thought he looked good. He got on the ball, he was asking for it, he was involved in the play, wide and through the middle ... He has a lot of good qualities. This was another step forward: more minutes after the 20 minutes the other night and more time with the team."
Samuel Marsden covers Barcelona for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelMarsden.
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Source: espn.co.uk