Barcelona were denied the chance to open up a three-point lead at the top of La Liga after Valencia won 2-0 on Saturday. Jordi Alba scored an own goal, while Maxi Gomez also found the net for Los Che at the Mestalla to slow down Barca's momentum in the title race. It's a first defeat for Quique Setien since he replaced Ernesto Valverde in the Barcelona dugout. The Blaugrana will lose top spot if nearest rivals Real Madrid avoid defeat in Valladolid on Sunday. A rather drab first half saw Valencia have the better of the play. Los Che's reward was a penalty when Gerard Pique felled Jose Luis Gaya in the area. Gomez stepped up but found himself denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. It was far from the last time Barca's outstanding goalkeeper would be called into action. The hosts also went close when former Arsenal holding midfielder Francis Coquelin tried his luck from distance. It was an ambitious effort, but Los Che created better chances whenever Carlos Soler got on the ball. Soler teed up both Kevin Gameiro and Gomez to continue the hosts' control of the game. Yet Ter Stegen still refused to be beaten. Barca's only response was to try to get Lionel Messi into shooting space. However, the Blaugrana's attacking talisman wasn't seeing enough of the ball. The visitors' sluggish display was suitably punished three minutes after the restart when the unfortunate Alba helped turn another effort from Gomez into his own net: