Sunday brought another points for Barcelona in a 4-2 win at Levante
, but the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story of the game.Barcelona dominated and took a 3-0 lead but lost control and ran the very real risk of dropping points after conceding twice in the closing stages. However, a late solo goal from Karim Adeyemi then secured the result to maintain the team’s perfect start to the season.
Time to check out some player ratings:
Joan Garcia – 8
Made some great saves and produced some good sweeper
keeping. However, he could potentially have done better on Levante’s second goal and was guilty of a poor kick that hit Rodri and almost put his team in trouble.
Xavi Espart – 7
This was a 9 based on his first goal for the club and a very solid, assured performance, including more than one superb last-ditch tackle, but his last action gifted Levante a route back into the game through Ivan Romero with a badly misplaced back pass.
Gerard Martin – 6
An average performance, kept a clean sheet as long as he was on the field but his direct contribution to that was not the highest. No major errors but also not a standout game.
Pau Cubarsi – 9
One of the few players who acquitted himself really well, a very solid performance including a tag-team goal-line save on the hour mark alongside Christensen. Neither goal was his fault, although there is a possible argument that he could have done a little better for Levante’s second.
Eric Garcia – 7
Solid but limited, good defensively but offered next to nothing going forward. Did stop many promising attacks throughout the game.
Pedri – 4
Not the Wizard’s best day: multiple poor giveaways (including one in his own box that was rescued on the line by Espart), was unable to dribble out of trouble, missed the right pass on more than one occasion and provided no control. One of the rare days that his substitution seemed to improve the team.
Rodri – 5
Not much better, provided absolutely no midfield control and gave the ball away too many times, letting Levante run the Blaugrana midfield and defence ragged.
Anthony Gordon – 7
Energetic but ineffective. He pressed high, created chances and got into the right positions but either was let down by his teammates or failed to choose the right option under pressure.
Fermin Lopez – 7
Almost anonymous throughout the first half, woke up around the hour mark and provided a dash of much-needed energy after the removal of Gordon to keep the ball moving and the Levante defence on their toes.
Lamine Yamal – 9.5
Barca’s main man on the day, worked his socks off, scored a great poacher’s goal as well as a brilliantly-taken penalty and Barca’s drop in performance largely coincided with his departure.
Raphinha – 9
Fantastic in the first hour, set up both of Barca’s early goals for Espart and Yamal, made all the right decisions and ran as hard as he could. However, he tired as the game wore on and his intensity levels dropped.
Substitutes
Andreas Christensen – 8
The other part of the brilliant two-man defensive effort on the hour mark to keep the ball out of the net. He came on at half-time replacing the injured and booked Gerard Martin, made his influence felt and the experience and calm he provided gave occasional flashes of Inigo Martinez.
Dani Olmo – 6
One or two bad decisions in the poor third and didn’t do much to influence the game other than distract the defenders away on Barca’s fourth.
Karim Adeyemi – 9
His pace and directness is a potent weapon against tired legs late in the game and his solo goal was a thing of beauty. He almost single-handedly kept Barca’s attack motoring along in the last quarter-hour of the game
Marc Bernal – 7
He was beaten too easily for Levante’s second but otherwise was a solid upgrade on Pedri today, slightly increased the midfield possession and won a few fouls to break Levante’s momentum.
Joao Cancelo – 8
Unusually composed performance defensively, keeping his man off and keeping the team in control late.
