BRILLIANT RIVALDO DENIES VALENCIA AT THE DEATH

The magical Brazilian scored three goals of the very highest quality, the last late in the game, to deny Valencia who twice hauled themselves level through Ruben Baraja.

 Barca needed to win to overtake their opponents, but it looked for long periods as if they would not do so when Baraja twice found space to head past Richard Dutruel.

However, the genius of the Brazilian, who scored with a free-kick, a fizzing drive and a sumptuous acrobatic effort came to the fore at the very last to snatch victory from the jaws of disaster.

Rivaldo gave Barca the ideal start with a perfectly executed free-kick in the opening five minutes, firing a dipping left-foot shot that crashed in off the post past a despairing Santiago Canizares.

Barca almost doubled their advantage on 23 minutes, but Simao`s header from a fine Marc Overmars cross crashed against the crossbar.

Valencia made Simao rue his missed chance when Baraja showed him how to head the ball - finding space in the box, as Barca defenders Carles Puyol and Philip Cocu collided, to power an effort past Dutruel.

Rivaldo showed his inspirational qualities shortly before the interval, producing great skill to leave two defenders trailing before firing a wicked, swerving drive past Canizares.

Rivaldo`s wild celebrations spoke volumes about the importance of the game, but Valencia hauled themselves level shortly after the interval.

Baraja`s first header was good, but the second was simply sublime. The defender, who managed only two goals in the whole season before Sunday, launched himself at the ball from the edge of the area and it rocketed past Dutruel.

Valencia visibly grew in confidence with the second goal, and they took control of the game as Barca desperately chased the win.

Dutruel saved his team on two occasions, firstly blocking a John Carew effort and secondly flinging himself to his right to deny Kily Gonzalez.

Patrick Kluivert was devoid of service for much of the night, but he had a chance on 75 minutes when Overmars teed him up. However, he, sadly, totally missed the ball when faced with just Canizares to beat.

Overmars then raced clear but shot straight at Canizares from the edge of the box.

Just as the game appeared to be moving towards a draw, Rivaldo collected the ball on his chest with his back to goal. There seemed to be little danger, but he sprung into the air and fired a bicycle kick past Canizares to spark wild celebrations at Camp Nou.

The celebrations are sure to go on long into the night, with the white handkerchiefs that were waved moments earlier being used to wipe away tears of joy following Rivaldo`s exceptional winner.

When asked about his amazing wining goal, Rivaldo modestly said: "I took the ball from Frank de Boer, controlled it with my chest and I think it was a nice goal."

To read the round-up from La Liga`s other action on Sunday, click here.