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WORLD FOOTBALL

    Valencia vs. Barcelona: Barca Must Assert La Liga Dominance with Road Victory

    Tim Daniels@TimDanielsBRX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistSeptember 20, 2011

    BARCELONA, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 17: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona (R) celebrates with his teammate Cesc Fabregas after scoring his first team's goalduring the La Liga soccer match between FC Barcelona and CA Osasuna at Camp Nou Stadium on September 17, 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
    David Ramos/Getty Images

    When Barcelona travels to Estadio Mestalla on Wednesday to take on Valencia they will be looking to build off an 8-0 thrashing of Osasuna. The heavy La Liga favorites need to assert their dominance over the league by beating one of the main contenders on their home turf.

    After back-to-back disappointing draws against Real Sociedad and AC Milan, L'equip blaugrana were a team on a mission against Osasuna. Five different players scored goals, including Lionel Messi who netted a hat trick, as Barcelona made a statement to the rest of the league.

    It won't be that easy against Valencia. Los Che are a team in that second tier behind Barca and Real Madrid with hopes of proving they belong in the same conversation as the usual suspects at the top of the table.

    Striker Roberto Soldado has scored five of the six Valencia goals through three games and is likely in the best form of his career.

    The 26-year-old Spaniard has played with four different La Liga clubs over the past six seasons and seems to have settled in nicely with Los Che. Stopping him will be priority No. 1 for Barcelona on Wednesday.

    The most important aspect of the game for Barca is getting that mental edge back. After those two unimpressive second half performances last week, they gave some lower level La Liga teams hope of beating the champions.

    Valencia vs. Barcelona: Barca Must Assert La Liga Dominance with Road Victory
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    They need to squash those dreams and remind everybody why they won the Champions League last season. A road win over Valencia will go a long way in doing that.

    Since arriving from Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas has become the point man for the L'equip blaugrana attack. He will need to continue his strong distribution and Lionel Messi will be on the end of many of those passes, as usual.

    Barcelona remains the favorite to capture another La Liga crown, now they just need to ensure they get back into the heads of opponents. If the other team doesn't believe they can beat them, Barca's job becomes a lot easier as the season wears on.

    And with so many important games on the horizon, the easier league games are, the better Barcelona's chances become to claim all the other trophies they are chasing.