LIONEL MESSI ended a five-game dry spell, but it was not enough for Barcelona as they were beaten 2-1 by Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.

    Lionel Messi’s 500th senior goal was not enough to prevent Barcelona from losing three La Liga games in a row for the first time since February 2003 as Valencia won 2-1 at Camp Nou.

    The Catalans knew they could not afford to drop points again after previous defeats at the hands of Real Madrid and Real Sociedad — with Atletico Madrid moving level on points earlier Sunday following their win over Granada — and created numerous chance to open the scoring in the opening stages of the game.

    Luis Suarez, Messi and Neymar all failed to beat the excelling Diego Alves, though, as the Valencia goalkeeper pulled off a string of fine saves.

    An own goal from Ivan Rakitic then saw Valencia take a shock lead, before Santi Mina doubled the visitors’ lead with his fourth league goal of the season.

    Messi eventually got his milestone goal after the break to end his barren run, but it was not enough to salvage a draw as Valencia held firm.

    This weekend’s results mean Barcelona are level on 76 points with Atletico, while third-placed Real Madrid have moved to within just one point as the title race hots up.

    (SD-Agencies)