Good afternoon and welcome to LIVE coverage of this La Liga fixture between Valencia and FC Barcelona at the Mestalla.

Jonas makes a late run into the box on the right hand side for Valencia before he is closed down by the excellent Alba who has had a great game against his former club. And that's the last of the action as the referee blows the final whistle. A fair result and a good effort by the home side against the brilliant Catalans with their amazing Argentine goal machine.

Canales gets clear of Puyol on the right and could shoot but instead elects to cross and there is no-one in the box to aim for.

As the clock ticks down the referee's assistant says there will be three minutes of added time.

Valdes gets a big double high five and chest bump from Puyol for keeping out Soldado.

A great chance for Soldado to win it. Cissokho robs Dani Alves and puts in a dangerous cross which deflects out to Soldado who hits it at Valdes and Barcelona have a lucky escape.

A final change for Valencia as Guardado departs and Brazilian attacker Jonas comes off the bench.

After a very busy January for Barcelona they finally have a week off after this game, with no midweek fixture before a home game in La Liga against Getafe next Sunday.

A good low cross from Alba is hit towards Xavi, who is beaten to the ball by Rami in the area. Solid defending.

Messi and Xavi combine well to feed Pedro on the right and he swivels inside his marker Cissokho before driving a low shot straight at Guaita.

A clever run into the box on the right hand side by Iniesta sees him get to the goal line but he is tackled by Ricardo Costa just before he can cross.

Ten minutes to go and Barcelona want to find that winning goal to put them 18 points ahead of Real Madrid and 14 in front of Atletico...

Had that been Messi or Pedro on the end of the cross it would surely have been a goal.

What a chance! Great full back play from Barcelona, Alba's excellent run down the right gives him a good chance to cross and his pass into the Valencia box is perfect, but Villa can't convert it with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Guardado gets a yellow card as he's all over Messi in midfield.

Xavi takes a free kick from the left and a long lofted cross eventually finds Puyol who can only play it back in to the Valencia goalkeeper.

A silly little foul by Soldado again who seems to love winding up the Barcelona players. This time it's a little tap kick on Pique who complains to the referee.

Fabregas leaves the field of play to be replaced by former local favourite Villa, who gets a warm welcome from the home fans.

Pablo Piatti comes on for Valencia, replacing Bernat.

A great save by Valdes that one a couple of minutes ago, the replays show us how well he reacted to that shot by Canales. Surely Barcelona can find a way to keep their goalkeeper who recently refused to extend his current contract.

An amusing banner at the side of the pitch from one of the spectators reads: 'Messi will you give me your shirt today? It's my birthday!'