FC Barcelona had twice as many shots on target as Valencia, and have won their first three league games for the first time in three years
• FC Barcelona have got nine points from their first three Liga fixtures for the first time since the 2009/10 season, the second under Josep Guardiola.
• Tito Vilanova is the eighth manager in club history to have got the team off to such a perfect start in his first season in charge, the last one being Louis van Gaal in 1997.
• The win is Barça’s sixth in a row against Valencia at the Camp Nou, a fixture in which they have not dropped a point since 2006/07 (1-1).
• Although only one goal was scored, the statistics show that FC Barcelona were by far the superior side. They had more shots (13 compared to 6), shots on target (5 to 2) and total passes (792 to 407).
• It was a special night for Jordi Alba, who came on for the injured Alves to face the club he only left a few months ago. Another former Valencia man, David Villa, finally didn’t get to play.
• With Busquets on the bench, Valdés and Messi are now the only players that have started every official match of the Vilanova era. They have played the full 90 minutes of every game so far.
• However, those three, plus Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Jordi Alba, have appeared at some point in every official game played to date.
• The Valencia match was also Alex Song’s first at the Camp Nou. Of his 67 passes, 61 were good and he made 5 good tackles.
• In the fifth official match of the season, Valdés kept his first clean sheet. It was also the first game in which Messi failed to score.