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.
