Barcelona vs. Valencia: How Barcelona Will Stay Atop La Liga

Currently, Barcelona sit at the top of La Liga, and they hope to keep it that way.

The team experienced a little bump in the road with its Wednesday loss to Real Madrid 2-1. Barca gave up two early goals and never seemed to quite recover.

Play will resume this weekend against a tough Valencia team. Barca made several mistakes in El Clasico on Wednesday that they will not be able to get away with this time.

However, they will be getting some players back who missed Wednesday's match. Both Carles Puyol and Dani Alves will be back in the lineup to provide some strength and experience. 

Valencia will be no easy task. Los Che have finished third in La Liga for the past three seasons and have shown to be an aggressive team. Their speed and power all across the field make them a tough competitor. Sometimes Los Che can be too aggressive, having been carded 10 times this season. If this is the case on Sunday, Barcelona will have a field day.

Offense is the strength of Barca's team. Led by David Villa and Lionel Messi, they have already had 28 shots on goal. With Villa and Messi appearing in top-form, Valencia's defense will struggle to slow down the Barcelona attack. Barcelona's lightening speed and crisp passing can blow by Los Che, who have shown signs of faltering on defense.

With a victory on Sunday, Barcelona will keep their status as top team in La Liga and begin to distance themselves from the rest of the field.