Messi gives Barcelona victory over Real Valladolid

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  make a number of changes to his team, resting Luis Suarez and ahead of a packed schedule which will start with a Champions League trip to  on Tuesday. Ousmane Dembele started after returning from injury, with Carles Alena and 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  penalty two minutes before half time after  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.