Luis Suarez and Claudio Bravo save Barcelona against a spirited Valencia

Luis Suarez did the damage, again. Two-and-a-half days after the Uruguayan was Barcelona's hero in Paris, his goal settled a thrilling clash on home soil, before Lionel Messi added a second with the last touch of the game. 

Messi's goal was his 400th, a milestone strike, and something he deserved fom a game in which he had put his heart and soul into.

Valencia, fighting for a place in the Champions League, worked hard enough to merit a point at the very least from this, and created the better chances.

It took just one minute for Barcelona to open the scoring, with Sergio Busquets threading a ball through for Messi. The Argentine fought off his man and then played in Suarez. The Uruguayan went with an unorthodox toe-poke that caught Diego Alves by surprise, prodding the ball low, into the far corner.

Enrique had asked for 100,000 singing Barcelona fans and it seemed his plea had been heard, with a tremendous atmosphere inside the stadium. 

Regardless, Valencia were ratcheting up the pressure on Barcelona in a fashion rarely seen at the Camp Nou. They were creating plenty of opportunities, but they all went begging in an enthralling first half.

The biggest of these fell to Dani Parejo, who was given the chance to score from the penalty spot after Gerard Pique went through the back of Rodrigo.

It was a soft decision to give the penalty, but Parejo's effort was softer still. Bravo dived low, to his right, and saved it comfortably.

Undeterred, Valencia continued to rack up the chances, with Javier Mascherano making a brilliant block and Paco Alcacer hitting the post with Bravo well beaten. 

At the other end there was little going on, bar once chance Messi had to double Barcleona's lead, firing wide of the right-hand post after a scramble in the box.

Adriano, in for Jordi Alba, was having a torrid time of it against the energetic Sofiane Feghouli - the man of the match when Valencia beat Barcelona 3-2 here last season - and made way for Ivan Rakitic at half-time.

It brought to an end the midfield partnership of Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano, with the latter slotting back into defence and Jeremy Mathieu pushing out to left-back.

The only time Enrique had deployed these two players in the same starting midfield before was against Valencia, at the Mestalla in Barcelona's 1-0 win. It's not a tactic that sits will with the club's tradition style of football; but then neither does a lot of what Enrique has been practising, and it seems to be going pretty well for him.

Bringing on Rakitic and removing Adriano gave Barcelona the control they were desperately seeking in the first half and they began to stifle Los Che.

Messi hit the bar with a swerving free kick, while chances were harder to come by for Nuno Espirito Santo's side. 

Bravo was called into action with 15 minutes to go, parrying Rodrigo's effort from inside the box. 

A marvellous dribble from Messi was only ended by the superb defending of Nicolas Otamendi, who managed to delay the Argentine as he tried to burst into the box.

Pedro found the side netting after Messi set him up, as Barcelona managed to see out the game at a much higher level than they managed in the first half.

Messi, sent clean through by Neymar at the death, tried to chip Diego Alves but the keeper repelled his effort. The ball fell back to the Argentine, who rolled it into the empty net. 

It stretched their lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to five points, ahead of Los Blancos' clash against Malaga later in the evening.