Real Valladolid 0-1 Barcelona: Champions win after VAR reprieve

Ousmane Dembele scored his fourth league goal for Barcelona and his first of the season

Barcelona clung on for a hard-fought win over Real Valladolid, who had an injury-time equaliser ruled out after a video assistant referee review.

VAR was only introduced to La Liga this season and it was used to show that Keko's diving header was offside.

The decision denied newly promoted Valladolid a second point from two league matches.

Ousmane Dembele scored a second-half winner after Sergi Roberto had kept the ball in with a header on the byeline.

Luis Suarez also had a goal ruled out for offside with 10 minutes remaining.

Barcelona began the defence of their league title with a 3-0 win over Alaves last weekend but were fortunate to see out victory over Valladolid - who finished fifth in Spain's second tier last season.

Goalkeeper Jordi Masip made two impressive saves from Suarez and Philippe Coutinho before the break and former Manchester City forward Enes Unal was a constant threat.

The 21-year-old had an effort tipped over the bar in the first half and Keko came close to equalising with another header after the break.

The recently laid pitch hindered both sides, with large divots appearing throughout the match which forced players to attempt to replace patches of turf in an attempt to make it smoother.

The hosts delivered a crushing blow to Barcelona's title hopes when they last played at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla four years ago, winning 1-0 against a team including Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cesc Fabregas.

Barcelona defender Jordi Alba tries to replace the turf at Real Valladolid