Barcelona remain unbeaten after their first two matches of the La Liga season thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win against Levante at the Ciutat de València Stadium on Saturday night. After a disastrous first half in which they played poorly and feel behind by two goals, the Blaugrana recovered well in the second half, dominated the game and found a way to steal a late winner thanks to an own goal to escape yet another wild night away to Levante with all three points.
FIRST HALF
The opening half was incredibly
disappointing from a Barça perspective, as the Blaugrana picked up right where they left off in the second half against Mallorca and played slow, apathetic, unimaginative football with very little intensity and creativity in the final third.
Levante played a solid 5-4-1 formation with a low block and great effort to close spaces and well-designed counter-attacks to catch the Barça high line off guard, and that’s how they scored the opening goal when Sánchez took the ball form Yamal and started a perfectly executed break that ended with a goal by Romero who was allowed to walk with the ball inside the box and pass it into the net with zero resistance from the Barça defense.
The Catalans dominated possession and tried to respond but showed very little hunger and desire to truly break down the Levante backline, who continued to work hard and smart to not allow any real chances. Only the genius of Pedri could create an opportunity when the midfielder played a genius no-look pass to find Ferran all alone in perfect shooting position, but Torres hit the crossbar and wasted a golden chance.
And with a minute to go before halftime, came a crucial blow: Levante put together another perfect counter off a Barça corner and Brugué found himself inside the box ready to double the lead, but Balde made a sensational recovery run and blocked the shot; unfortunately for the left-back, the rebound fell to Morales who fired a shot that hit Balde’s hand and the referee gave a penalty after a VAR review.
Morales easily converted the spot kick, and Levante had a well-deserved two-goal lead at the break.
SECOND HALF
Hansi Flick made two substitutions at halftime, swapping Casadó and Rashford for Gavi and Olmo, but the change was more than just to personnel: Barça showed a proper attitude, playing with the right intensity and moving the ball with more pace and intent in the final third.
And just seven minutes after the restart the Catalans had already erased the Levante lead: the first goal was spectacular, courtesy of a an absolutely rocket by Pedri from 30 yards that found the top corner, and the second came after a corner from Raphinha that was beautifully volleyed home by Ferran to make things all square and change the atmosphere at the stadium.
Levante had a couple of chances to immediately retake the lead but Joan Garcia made two solid saves, and Barça were poised to continue increasing the pressure to find the winning goal. But the hosts did a good job of slowing down the pace of the game, and Barça went quite a while without creating a real chance apart from a couple of headers by Ferran and a shot by Olmo that didn’t truly trouble Levante goalkeeper Campos.
Flick made two more changes with 15 minutes to go, sending on Christensen for Araujo and Lewandowski for Balde, moving Raphinha to left-back and going with an ultra-attacking lineup in search of the winner. Kounde replaced Eric with five minutes to go, and Flick had exhausted all possibilites and left it up to his players to get the job done.
And in the 91st minute, they did it, even if there was some luck involved: Yamal received a pass on the right wing and play a cross into the box looking for Ferran, but Levante center-back Elgezabal headed it against his own net to put Barça in front at the death and completely take the air out of his team and the fans.
The final whistle came after 98 minutes of yet another wild Barça game away to Levante, but they’ve found a way to win this one. The first half wasn’t pretty, but the second half was really good and Barça earned the late winner, even if it was a lucky one.
Even though we are so early in the season, these three points feel really important.
Levante: Campos; Toljan (García 86’), De La Fuente, Elgezabal, Cabello, Sánchez (Pampín 75’); Brugué (Espí 75’), Martínez, Rey, Morales (Álvarez 59’); Romero (Losada 75’)
Goals: Romero (15’), Morales (45+7’)
Barcelona: Garcia; Eric (Kounde 85’), Araujo (Christensen 76’), Cubarsí, Balde (Lewandowski 76’); Casadó (Gavi 46’), Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Rashford (Olmo 46’); Ferran
Goals: Pedri (49’), Ferran (52’), Elgezabal (OG 90+1’)
