Boateng fails to charm Camp Nou as Barça labour to win over Valladolid

Kevin Prince-Boateng endured a horrendous La Liga home debut as Barcelona labored to a 1-0 win over Real Valladolid on Saturday night.

Lionel Messi scored one penalty and missed another as the Blaugrana moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga.

With Barcelona facing Lyon in the opening leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, manager Ernesto Valverde opted to have Suarez and Ivan Rakitic among the substitutes, with former Tottenham and Portsmouth man Kevin-Prince Boateng starting.

But the Ghanaian international who joined on loan during the January transfer missed the rare opportunity to convince the club’s top brass to exercise the purchase option at the end of the season.

However, it will be unfair to put all the blame on the former Sassuolo man because it was generally an atrocious performance by the Catalan giants.

Barca were slow and stagnant in midfield, and utterly ineffective in attack.

Boateng lasted for 60 minutes before Suarez came on to replace him.