Barcelona scraped to a 1-0 win over Valencia in Sunday’s late kick-off thanks to Adriano’s long-range strike on the 23rd minute wholesale soccer cleats. The Blaugrana were comfortable for the most part, dominated possession for the entire 90 minutes and in truth, they should have wrapped up the game long before the final whistle. However, a combination of poor finishing from Cesc Fabregas and some uncharacteristically bad decision-making ensured that the game remained close right until the final whistle wholesale cheap soccer cleats. Barcelona’s result against Valencia, however, deserves a little more attention. A 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp, the three points initially look like the home team holding serve, even if Valencia again showed their quality with another inspired road performance. Barcelona remains perfect through three rounds, giving Real Madrid a five-point deficit to go with their Supercopa wholesale nike soccer cleats. More important than the points gap are the corresponding results. Valencia represents the giants’ first shared opponent, both having played Los Che at home. Where the varying strength of opening schedules can see small sample records distort a team’s quality, comparing shared opponents serves as a quick and easy way to establish a level playing field wholesale adidas soccer cleats. Even after teams complete a turn through the league, looking at differing results helps describe where trophies are won and lost. El Real opened the season with a 1-1 draw against Valencia, a 42nd minute equalizer from Jones wear nike mercurial vapor 8 snatching a point while the defending champions were held scoreless over the match’s final 80 minutes. Two weeks later, an Adriano rocket from 24 yards into Alexis’s upper-left hand corner was the only thing separating Barca and Valencia at Camp Nou. In terms of the title race, Barcelona’s now claimed two points Real Madrid will have to make up elsewhere wear adidas adipower predator. The places where points were dropped to Valencia and Villarreal end up canceling out, the opposite team giving back points in the same or the reverse fixtures. Take those out and also ignore the Clasicos (where each team won on the road) and you’re left with three places the league champions gave points to Barcelona wear nike mercurial vapor superfly iii. Though this comparison tells us far more about 2011-12 than this year’s race, it gives us a vague idea of the margins in Spain’s title race. Over the last three seasons, the team that won the league has dropped points in seven, eight, and six matches – already a small window wear nike total 90 laser iv kl. When you factor in the possibility of dropping points in the same matches, the remaining space to make up ground becomes as razor thin. The Valencia results represent that first fissure between Barcelona and Real Madrid. If this season is anything like last’s, a handful of small distinctions will determine who claims the Primera Division. Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano; Song, Xavi, Cesc; Pedro, Messi, Alexis. Subs: Pinto, Alba, Bartra, Busquets, Iniesta, Tello, Villa. Valencia: Alves; Pereira, Rami, Ruiz wear nike ctr360 maestri ii elite, Cissokho; Albelda, Costa; Feghouli, Jonas, Guardado; Soldado.