Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: Brilliant Santi Mina strike rescues point as Gary Neville watches his new side cancel out Luis Suarez opener

The Mestalla Messiah, Gary Neville, sat high in the main stand on Saturday night and watched his new Valencia side suggest that perhaps they don’t need quite as big a miracle to turn their season around as some seem to believe.

They took a point from the best side in Europe and they fully deserved their draw, and the huge ovation they were given as they left the field on the final whistle.

They held out for an hour before a brilliant strike from Luis Suarez – his 13th goal in the last eight games – looked to have won it for Barcelona.

Valencia's forward Santi Mina (left) celebrates his goal with Valencia's forward Paco Alcacer after the hosts left it late to snatch a point

Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez celebrates giving Barcelona the lead after 59 minutes with a typically determined effort at the Mestalla

Suarez had an eventful evening being closely marked by Valencia defender Aymen Abdennour and he got the better of him for the goal

Barcelona's Brazilian defender Dani Alves (left) vies with Valencia's defender Jose Gaya as both sides looked to record victory on Saturday

Gary Neville watches on from the stands at the Mestalla and the former Sky Sports pundit will have plenty to evaluate come the morning

But 19-year-old Santi Mina equalized on 86 minutes to give Phil Neville a famous draw before he is joined by his brother in the dug-out for Wednesday's game against Lyon.

Gary was not in the dressing room before the game and he did not go to congratulate his players post-match either. But he must have been tempted.

They came into the contest with ten players missing but gave Barcelona a far tougher test than the likes of Real Madrid and Roma in recent weeks and Neville will have seen plenty to be optimistic about.

The first half was the story of gutsy resistance and rapid counterattacks. They rode their luck from the start with both Leo Messi and Neymar sending chances high over the bar. Perhaps it was going to be their night.

It wasn’t just about luck though. They attacked with a 4-3-3 and defended with a 4-5-1 that closed out the space between Barcelona’s front three and their midfield brilliantly.

That didn’t stop Andres Iniesta playing two sublime passes for chances that both ended in goals. The first he pinged out to Neymar it screwed back into the Brazilian’s path as ran down the left and when he crossed, Messi got the shot away but Jaume Domenech made the save.

He repeatd the trick just before half-time and again Neymar crossed from the left. This time it was Suarez racing towards the centre but he failed to make contact.

Valencia threatened too. Danilo shot into the side netting and there was huge roar for a penalty when Rodrigo de Paul went down under a Pique challenge. The referee correctly waved away appeals but Barcelona were shaking when Valencia hit them on the break. 

Valencia's interim head coach Salvador Gonzalez offers instructions to his side and would have been encouraged by the performance

Messi sees a good opportunity go begging in the opening period as goalkeeper Jaume Domenech safely gathered the ball in his hands 

Messi is dispossessed by Abdennour on a night when the Argentine didn't have everything go his way on returning to the starting line up

Suarez looks to drive past Abdennour during a Spanish La Liga match as the visitors looked the more likely to break the deadlock early on

Barcelona's veteran midfielder Andres Iniesta pictured with Valencia's Salvadorean midfielder Danilo Barbosa and Enzo Perez for company 

Luis Enrique's side always looked a threat going forward with the likes of striker Neymar leading the line with Suarez and Lionel Messi

Mascherano went into the book for a running into De Paul when the ball had long gone and whenever Jose Gaya attacked from left-back there was added threat. Gary Neville will already know all about the young defender who Real Madrid want to replace Marcelo at Real Madrid.

As well as augmenting attacks he made several recovery blocks in his own area to deny Suarez as Valencia threw bodies in-front of Barcelona shots.

He will also have been buoyed by the atmosphere. The noise levels went up everytime Valencia crossed the halfway line and Danilo Barbosa had them out of their seats stepping cleverly away from Sergi Busquets.

Barcelona were still showing flashes of the brilliance that sets them apart from the rest of the league at the moment. Alves flicked the ball brilliant away from Enzo Perez as Barceloan attacked down the right.

But the front three were just bouncing off of Valencia’s defence – literally when just before the hour Suarez jumped into goalkeeper Domenech and the keeper went down with no shortage of exaggeration. Players surrounded the Uruguayan and the noisy Gol Sur gave the Uruguayan as much verbal abuse as they could muster.

He had the last laugh moments later though when he ran on to Messi’s pass and charged bull-like into the area shaking off Abdennour as he went before thundering a shot into the roof of the net and putting his index finger to his lips to silence the home supporters.

Valencia defenders claimed he had been offside as he raced clear and Abdennour was still complaining about an incident between the two moments before when Suarez had backed into the Tunisian centre-back and he had claimed Suarez had trod on him.

Valencia were not finished though and De Paul charged through on goal but he tried to pass the ball past Claudio Bravo instead of blasting it and the keeper made the save.

When Mina’s chance came four minutes from time he made no such mistake. Paco Alcacer chased a long ball forward and running between Pique and Mascherano he brought it down brilliantly between the pair of them and teed up the unmarked teenager who scored to level and leave Valencia supporters to celebrate as if they had won La Liga.

'This is a very difficult place to come,' said Luis Enrique. 'We bossed the game but they stuck together and were given tremendous support.' Both of those truths will give huge encouragement to the new Valencia manager.

Suarez watches another good opportunity go by in the first half but the striker showed greater ruthlessness in front of goal later on

Danilo Barbosa of Valencia battles for the ball with Messi and the four-time Ballon d'Or winner was a constant threat to the hosts

Valencia's Santi Mina looks to take the ball past Neymar and the 19-year-old would eventually leave a lasting impression on Neville

Neymar and Messi acknowledge a good piece of play from the visitors during a closely fought game in La Liga on Saturday evening

Suarez goes to ground under a weighty challenge from Abdennour and the battle between the pair was a constant theme to proceedings

Ivan Rakitic shoots the ball past Valencia's Jose Gaya at the Mestalla as the La Liga leaders tried to overcome an important hurdle