What is the story about?
Barcelona
are back to winning ways and have reclaimed their spot on top of the La Liga table thanks to a very comfortable 3-0 win against Levante at Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon. The Blaugrana dominated the entire game and created really good chances throughout the game, and João Cancelo was the standout performer as Barça picked up all three points, kept a clean sheet and bounced back from a couple of bad defeats in impressive fashion.
Reactions & Observations
- The first couple of minutes of the game had a nervous feeling as Levante created two goalmouth chances and Joan Garcia was called to the rescue, and it seemed as though the visitors were ready to wreak havoc.
- But as soon as a short corner routine from the home team ended with an assist by Eric Garcia and a tap-in for Marc Bernal in the fourth minute, the game changed completely and Barça were in full control for the rest of the half.
- The Catalans looked a lot like themselves again, passing the ball quickly and with purpose and finding spaces inside the Levante low block with good runs in behind and constant overlapping from both full-backs.
- The star of the show in the first half was João Cancelo, who erased all doubts about his surprise inclusion in the starting lineup with a very strong performance. The Portuguese played basically as a left winger and was responsible for every one of the several good attacks Barça created throughout the period, and it was his assist to Frenkie de Jong that doubled the Blaugrana lead and gave them crucial separation in the scoreline.
- Barça had a deserved lead at halftime and were playing their best football in a while, but they still needed another goal or two in the second half to make sure of the win without any drama.
- The Blaugrana played a really solid second half, managing the game perfectly by dominating possession and not allowing a single meaningful chance on the counter to a Levante side that seemed content to not lose by much.
- Pedri returned from injury to a very nice ovation and the Catalans created a few good chances without finding the net, but in the 80th minute Fermín López fired an absolute rocket with his weaker left foot that went in off the post and guaranteed the victory in style.
- This was a very good win with a strong team performance that helps restore at least some of the good vibes and puts Barça back on top of the table. Levante were not good at all and there will be much tougher tests to come in the coming weeks, but this was a good first step to recover from two bad losses.
