FC Barcelona (2nd, 58pts) vs Levante UD (19th, 18pts)
Competition/Round: 2025-26 La Liga, Matchday 25
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Andreas Christensen (out)
Levante Outs & Doubts: Unai Elgezabal, Roger Brugué, Pablo Martínez, Kervin Arriaga (out)
Barcelona Form Guide: WWWLL
Levante Form Guide: WDLLL
Date/Time: Sunday, February 22, 2026, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 10.15am ET, 7.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas
VAR: Jorge Figueroa Vázquez
How to watch on
TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), Premier Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports Player (UK), FanCode (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a painful defeat to Girona on Monday followed by a week of more noise and negativity, Barcelona return to La Liga action for a home game against struggling Levante at the Greatest Stadium on Earth on Sunday afternoon.
Real Madrid’s surprising defeat away to Osasuna on Saturday creates a huge opportunity for Barça to change the entire narrative over 90 minutes on Sunday, as a win will be enough to reclaim top spot in the table which would be a huge added bonus on top of a victory the Catalans desperately need.
The losses to Atlético Madrid and Girona have been discussed to death, and there’s no point in continuing to focus on the negative right now. The beautiful thing about football is there’s always the next game and the chance to make things right, and the next game can truly change the trajectory of Barça’s season if they win in convincing fashion.
On paper, at least, they should be able to win convincingly against a Levante team in 19th place and with only one win in their last seven. They’ve also conceded the most goals in the league and are struggling to put the ball in the back of the net as of late, and are looking more and more like relegation candidates.
The problem is Levante are also Barça’s bogey team, and their first meeting of the season all the way back in August was the perfect example as Levante took a 2-0 lead before halftime and only lost because of a strange own goal in the 91st minute. That followed on the footsteps of many other games in the last decade, home or away, where Levante have made Barça’s life a living hell.
There is just something about Levante against Barça, and it’s one of those things that’s hard to explain but happens in football where a top team simply struggles against a smaller club despite the huge gap in talent. That history combined with Barça’s recent slump almost guarantees a really tough game on Sunday, and one that will require the very best from Hansi Flick and his troops.
Levante are expected to play a back five and will happily give Barça the ball hoping to win it back in dangerous positions so the talented front two of Ivan Romero and Blaugrana target Etta Eyong can cause problems on the counter, while the defense will do all it can to slow down Barça’s attacking momentum and try and capitalize on the tension around Camp Nou.
This is a must-win game in every possible aspect, and a real opportunity for Barça to show their strength and to make a statement for the rest of the season.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Martín, Balde; Eric, De Jong; Yamal, Fermín, Raphinha; Ferran
Levante (5-3-2): Ryan; Toljan, De La Fuente, Moreno, Matturo, Sánchez; Álvarez, Raghouber, Olasagasti; Eyong, Romero
PREDICTION
This is a golden chance to change the mood completely with a convincing win that returns Barça to the top of the table and brings optimism back to Camp Nou, but Levante have been quite the bogey team and will certainly make things tough. Still, I expect Barça to respond and finish the weekend back where they belong: 3-1 to the home team.
