Brilliant Barcelona Set New La Liga Record & Move Within Touching Distance of Title

Barcelona set a new unbeaten record in La Liga earlier today, putting Tuesday's shock exit from the UEFA Champions League behind them to defeat Valencia at the Nou Camp.

Their 2-1 victory - achieved courtesy of goals from Luis Suárez and France defender Samuel Umtiti - means La Blaugrana have now gone 39 matches in La Liga without tasting defeat, more than any other side in Spanish league history.

The Catalans proudly celebrated this remarkable feat on Twitter:

Barca's latest win moves them within seven points of the La Liga title. They are now 14 points clear of second-placed Atlético Madrid and have a vastly superior goal difference to Los Rojiblancos.

Nevertheless, this achievement will be scant consolation to some Barcelona fans, who must still be wondering how their side managed to squander a 4-1 first leg lead to lose to Roma on away goals on Tuesday.

As one Twitter user by the name of 'Zeus' cruelly pointed out, it was the third season in a row that the Catalan giants have been knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage:

From Barca's point of view, perhaps the most disappointing aspect of their Champions League exit was that all three of Roma's goals at the Stadio Olimpico came from dismal defending, with centre backs Gerard Piqué and Samuel Umtiti both having a match to forget.

Ironically, Barca actually had a rock-solid defensive record in Europe this season until Tuesday's match - they conceded as many goals away to Roma as they'd conceded in their previous nine Champions League matches.

Still, as disappointing seasons for Barcelona go, this one could have been far worse. As well as setting a new La Liga unbeaten record, Barca need to avoid defeat in just six more league matches to go an entire league season unbeaten.

The Spanish champions-elect will also be consoled by the thought that their bitter rivals Real Madrid are currently languishing in fourth place in La Liga.