Barcelona edged Real Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday night in a match which was heavily conditioned by the terrible state of the pitch. Real Valladolid kept Barcelona at bay until the 57th minute, when Osumane Dembele finished after Sergi Roberto had done well to keep the ball in play. Keko thought he'd scored a late equaliser, but it was offside.

The match started in lively fashion, with Ousmane Dembele coming close for Barcelona and with Enes Unal doing likewise for Real Valladolid inside the opening 10 minutes.

There were another couple of chances for Dembele before the half-hour mark, with the Barcelona No.11 one of the most involved performers.

Luis Suarez had a great chance too just after the half-hour mark, but he shot straight at goalkeeper Jordi Masip, who also saved well from Philippe Coutinho moments later. Thanks to those saves, it remained goalless at the break.

Barcelona then got their breakthrough just over 10 minutes into the second half, as Sergi Roberto did amazingly well to keep the ball in play and to head it back to Dembele, who this time finished past Masip.

Dembele was taken off for Arturo Vidal for the final 15 minutes, which seemed odd given how well the Frenchman had been playing.

It was in the final 15 minutes that Real Valladolid really had Barcelona on the back foot. Keko had a great chance to head home an equaliser in the 77th minute, but he shot straight at Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

There were then goals ruled out for both sides, both because of offside. First, a Suarez goal was chalked off, before what would have been a last-minute Keko equaliser was ruled out for an offside.

This was a little too close for comfort for Barcelona, but this slightly underwhelming performance must be taken with a a pinch of salt given how poor the pitch at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla was and given how difficult it was to move the ball around.