Barcelona had to rely on a late own goal to seal three points in a hard-fought 3-2 clash against Levante on Saturday.The Catalans were completely outplayed by Levante in the first half, heading into t...
Barcelona had to rely on a late own goal to seal three points in a hard-fought 3-2 clash against Levante on Saturday.
The Catalans were completely outplayed by Levante in the first half, heading into the break with a 2-0 deficit.
However, things changed in the second half, mostly thanks to a few smart substitutions made by coach Hansi Flick, which changed the complexion of the game.
Barcelona pushed back to make it 2-2, thanks to goals from Pedri and Ferran Torres. While the game was heading towards a draw, a late own goal was forced by the brilliance of Lamine Yamal during injury time.
What Levante coach said about Barcelona result
Speaking to the media after the game, Levante coach Julian Calero admitted that he regrets missing out on clinching at least a point against Barcelona.
The Spaniard explained that Levante had a clear game plan and always knew that they could take advantage of Barça’s weaknesses.
Flick won’t be happy with Barcelona’s performance vs Levante (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
“I imagined I had quite a few chances, because of the way they played, we knew we could hurt them,” he explained after the game (h/t Diario SPORT).
At the end, Calero even admitted that Levante were able to wound Barcelona through their strategic game, but were not able to mortally wound the Catalans.
“We have left them wounded, but not mortally wounded,” the coach added after his side was denied a point late in the game.
For Barcelona, the performance is yet another worrying factor for Hansi Flick as he looks to find the right balance in these early parts of the campaign.
The German was not happy with Barcelona’s performance in the first game, and he won’t be happy with this one either, though the German only had good things to say about his team’s work in the second half.
Category: General Sports
