Barcelona travel to the city of València on Saturday for their second La Liga match of the campaign against last season’s Second Division champions Levante, in what will Barça’s first visit to the Ciutat de València Stadium in three and a half years.
Barça have not exactly enjoyed their away games against Levante, winning just two of their last six matches on the road against them. There is the infamous 5-4 loss that ended their bid for an invincible season in the penultimate matchday of their La
Liga campaign in 2018, but their most recent clash was just as wild, chaotic, and unforgettable.
The date was April 10, 2022, and Xavi Hernández was six months into his job after taking over for Ronald Koeman mid-season. The former midfield legend changed the entire mood around the club, made some key signings in January, and took Barça from 9th place in October to a second-place finish and a historic 4-0 win in El Clásico.
The Catalans were riding a six-game winning streak in the league and faced a Levante team almost assured of relegation, and everyone expected an easy night. We got anything but that.
Levante were awarded not one, not two, but three penalties, one of which was saved by Marc-André ter Stegen, but scored twice from the spot to shock Barça. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pedri both found the net to even the game at 2-2, and it looked as though the Blaugrana’s winning streak was going to end.
Then Luuk de Jong happened: the tall Dutch striker, signed on Deadline Day of the previous summer window by Koeman in a move hated by every single Barça fan alive, had become an instant folk hero by turning into Xavi’s Super Sub: whenever Barça were in trouble on the road, De Jong would come off the bench with three minutes to go, score a last-minute header and rescue an impossible win for the Catalans.
And he did the same on this night, heading home a cross from Jordi Alba in the 92nd minute to give Barça all three points and a badass pose for the cameras:
Those of us who are Barça fans and experienced every day of the pain from 2020 to late 2021 know just how big those crazy, impossible wins in the early Xavi days were, and we will truly never forget what Luuk de Legend did for us.
The 2025 version of Barça doesn’t need to go through all the same drama on Saturday, but that night in April 2022 should serve as a reminder of not only how tough Levante can be at home, but of how far Barça have come.
