Gary Neville watched from the stands as Valencia produced an impressive back-foot display to claim a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at the Mestalla.

A comfortable Barcelona win looked on the cards when Luis Suarez opened the scoring early in the second half, but Valencia fought back well to secure a point when Santi Mina fired home an 86th-minute equaliser.

Interim boss Voro and Phil Neville took charge of the team following the latter's brother, who will officially begin his reign on Sunday, and the home side enjoyed plenty of luck on a night when Barcelona wasted good opportunities.

Barcelona dominated the opening exchanges and should have claimed an early lead as Lionel Messi volleyed over from a Suarez cross, before Neymar cleared the crossbar after he was released by the Uruguayan's clever through ball.

It was a sign of what was to come in the first half as the visitors asked regular questions of the Valencia defence, but another good chance passed the champions by when Messi could only send his effort straight at Jaume Domenech from Neymar's inviting cross.

Despite rarely causing problems for Barcelona, the hosts felt they should of had a penalty when Gerard Pique put his hands on Enzo Perez, whose eagerness to go down in the box encouraged the referee to ignore the protests.

Valencia enjoyed extended spells in possession, but it was the away side who continued to create opportunities as Suarez volleyed over after being picked out at the back post by Neymar.

Messi started the second half by seeing Domenech hold his low effort from outside the box, before the long spells of pressure finally produced an opener as Barcelona took the lead.

Suarez had sparked anger from Aymen Abdennour when he appeared to catch the Valencia defender in an incident off the ball, but after escaping punishment from the referee moments earlier, he made the breakthrough for the visitors by collecting Messi's lobbed ball over the defence and slotting past Domenech at the near post.

Even after falling behind, Valencia remained reluctant to commit too many men forward in fear of seeing the game slip away quickly as Barcelona continued to dominate.

Neymar came agonisingly close to doubling the lead in spectacular fashion as he eased past a couple of defenders on a fine run before curling inches wide of the post from the edge of the box.

Valencia's stubbornness kept them in the match, and the hosts had a great chance when Sergio Busquets gifted possession to Rodrigo de Paul, whose tame effort was easily stopped by Claudio Bravo.

As Barcelona searched for the goal which would have wrapped up the win, they were stunned by a Valencia equaliser when Paco Alcacer brought down a long ball under pressure from two defenders before teeing up Santi Mina, who powered an effort into the roof of the net.

Messi twice threatened to silence the home supporters, with Domenech pushing a free kick to safety before the Argentine fired a low shot straight at the goalkeeper in stoppage time as Barcelona settled for moving two points clear of Atletico Madrid.