Levante vs Barcelona Review
Barcelona mounted an impressive comeback after trailing by two goals to defeat Levante 3-2, preserving their perfect start to the La Liga season with a ninth consecutive away win in the competition. On a heavily watered pitch at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, Barcelona took control early against Levante, with Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford leading the attack in the opening moments. A sharp deflection on Balde’s shot, which was heading towards goal, left Pablo Campos beaten, but fortunately for Levante, the ball narrowly missed the post. Taking advantage of this lucky break, Levante struck on the 15-minute mark by exploiting Barcelona’s high defensive line.
Despite three defenders close to Iván Romero, the forward skillfully dropped his shoulder to create space and calmly scored past Joan García. The visitors sought a response, and Ferran Torres should have scored in the 36th minute but struck the crossbar. Shortly after, Hansi Flick’s team had a narrow escape when Adrián de la Fuente directed a free header wide of the goal. Any relief felt by the Blaugrana was short-lived, as in stoppage time, a counter-attack from the hosts resulted in a penalty against Balde for handball following a VAR review. José Luis Morales confidently converted the penalty with the final kick of the first half, marking his fourth career goal against Barcelona.
At halftime, Rashford and Marc Casadó were replaced by Dani Olmo and Gavi as Barça tried to fight back into the game. Their efforts paid off quickly, as within three minutes of the second half, Pedri unleashed a powerful 25-yard shot to ignite the comeback, followed by Torres volleying in a corner to quickly equalize.
Pedri kept leading the team, constantly driving the visitors forward whenever he could. With 15 minutes remaining, Robert Lewandowski joined the action as the pressure intensified. After Jules Koundé narrowly missed a shot, Levante’s defense finally broke down. Lamine Yamal’s floated cross caused confusion, and Unai Elgezabal accidentally headed the ball into his own net during the first minute of stoppage time. Barcelona have now scored two or more goals in 13 of their last 16 La Liga matches, while Levante remain without points since their return to the top division.
