Brizuela gives Barça another narrow win over Valencia

Barça secured another narrow win over Valencia thanks to a fortunate play from Brizuela in a game that remained finely balanced for much of the night. With six seconds left, the guard missed a free throw, then grabbed his own rebound to turn the game in Barça’s favour. The foul had been called with the score at 95-94.

The ending could have left Valencia with a final possession to win. After sharing a laugh with TJ Shorts and a referee, Brizuela made his first free throw but missed the second. His rebound gave him another chance, and fortune ultimately favoured Barça.

Barça lead La Liga with 27 points after 10 matches, while Valencia are 19th with 6 points. The gap between them is 21 points.

The game had swung back and forth. Barça took an early lead, driven by Punter, who scored 18 points. Valencia responded through Shorts and Mo Gueye, whose best minutes of the season helped revive his team. The sides traded the lead, and Barça went into the break narrowly ahead, 44-42.

The third quarter remained tight. Valencia built a lead of as many as five points, with the score at 53-58, before Barça fought back. Even after four consecutive baskets, the Catalan side could not pull away. Valencia kept the contest close by capitalising on offensive rebounds, until Robinson and Brizuela finally halted its repeated comebacks.

The result extended Barça’s perfect record in this season’s meetings: the teams had played three times, and Barça had won all three. Valencia had beaten Barcelona in the Liga Endesa final last season. The game was played at Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona, in round nine of the EuroLeague, in front of 6,004 spectators.