FC Barcelona News
Barcelona Battle to Win at Levante
April 16th, 2012FC Barcelona had to come from behind to beat Levante 2-1 at the Ciutat de Valencia on Saturday night. After conceding to a Barkero penalty, Barça hit back with two goals by Messi.
Guardiola stuck with the same system that defeated Getafe three days earlier, featuring a three-man defence of Puyol, Mascherano and Adriano. A major absentee from the first team midfield was Andrés Iniesta, who took his place on the bench at kick-off.
Barcelona got off to a strong start, and went about creating a series of chances in the opening minutes. The first fell to Pedro, after Messi found the winger in plenty of space on the left side of the area. Pedro’s shot was straight at Munua, and the Levante ‘keeper managed to parry away one-handed.
Later Messi showed great strength to bring the ball down in the area after the Levante defence attempted to clear its lines. He held off two defenders and made space for a shot that went just over the bar.
Thiago then had two excellent chances to open the scoring for Barcelona, with two headers. The first went just wide after Alexis tricked his way to the byline and pulled a cross back. The second came from a Messi free kick – Thiago beat the offside trap but could only head straight at Munua, despite being in plenty of space.
Then, after 22 minutes, and with Levante’s first real attack, Barcelona conceded a penalty. Valdés was unable to gather a corner, and Busquets was adjudged to have handled the ball when he attempted to win possession back. Barkero was cool from the penalty spot, waiting for Valdés to dive to the right before firing it down the middle.
Barça were quieter after conceding – Levante got men behind the ball much faster, and space was hard to find. The best chance was crafted by Messi, who looped a delightful pass for Cesc, but Munua dealt with the midfielder’s header.
With only a win good enough to maintain the pressure on Real Madrid, Barcelona attacked with real ferocity right from the start of the second half. Cuenca replaced Xavi, and Iniesta soon came on for Pedro. It took some time for the chances to start flowing though.
Adriano forced an acrobatic save from Munua with a shot just outside the area. And straight after, Messi drew Barcelona level. He ran with the ball from deep and played a one-two with Alexis on the edge of the area. Messi strode onto the return pass and curled the ball inside the left post.
Ten minutes later Cuenca dribbled past Juanfran on the right edge of the area, but as he got away the left-back pushed him to the ground, conceding a penalty for his side. Messi stepped up and stroked the ball into the top-right corner, sending Munua the wrong way.
From there Barcelona were professional, keeping possession in the Levante half and closing out an important and hard-fought win.
1-0 Barkero (min 22)
1-1 Messi (min 64)
1-2 Messi (min 72)
Thrashing for Levante
December 5th, 2011Barcelona were back to their free-scoring best on Saturday night, trouncing Levante 5-0 at the Camp Nou. Cesc opened the scoring, and then made it two with a fine header after half an hour. Cuenca got the third, before Messi and Alexis completed the rout.
Guardiola reverted to a 3-4-3, which hadn’t been seen for a couple of months. Puyol started between Abidal and Mascherano, behind an all-Spanish midfield four of Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets and Cesc. At the apex of the side were Alexis, Messi and youngster Isaac Cuenca.
This was a match in which Barcelona never looked troubled; they controlled possession from the first minute, and the fluency that was so lacking a week ago at Getafe appears to have been recovered.
The first goal, just four minutes into the game, epitomised Barça’s rediscovered confidence. Messi fired a pass into the feet of Andres Iniesta, and the ever-stylish midfielder produced a perfect back-heeled flick to thread the ball through to Cesc in the clear, who in turn produced a clinical low finish past the stranded Munúa.
Xavi and Messi went close with free kicks; the latter was parried by Munúa into Puyol’s path, but the veteran defender just couldn’t make a connection. At any rate, his side was combining well, and Levante’s backline was forced into a series of rash tackles, leaving three of four with bookings by the half–hour mark.
After yet another foul on the edge of the penalty area, Xavi whipped in a free-kick that Cesc met with a smart glancing header that flew into the top corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance. The game was then put beyond doubt with a few minutes of the first half remaining. Messi embarked on one of his classic right to left dribbles before feeding Iniesta on the edge of the area, who in turn laid the ball off for Isaac Cuenca. Barça’s latest young star took his tally for the season to two, and made it three on the night for his team with a low curling shot, into the bottom right corner.
Valdés then had to react quickly to keep Kone out, but Barcelona were comfortable going into the break.
The second half was more of the same for els Culés, apart from personnel; Puyol had been withdrawn for Alves after colliding with Kone, and Keita replaced Sergio Busquets in the midfield.
Levante did manage to create a chance early on though, when del Horno rose to head a Javi Venta free-kick goalwards, but Valdés equal to the effort, pushing it round the post.
Barcelona were quick to reassert themselves – Dani Alves spotted Messi free on the right side of the area, and when the little Argentine went one-on-one there would be only one outcome, with Barça striding to a four goal lead. Five minutes later Alexis added another, finishing a slick passing move with an attempted lob that deflected off del Horno’s back and clipped the underside of the crossbar.
1-0 Fábregas (min 3)
2-0 Fábregas (min 32)
3-0 Isaac Cuenca (min 36)
4-0 Messi (min 53)
5-0 Alexis (min 59)
Barcelona Are Champions!
May 12th, 2011FC Barcelona have won their 21st Primera División title after earning a 1-1 draw away at Levante on Wednesday night. It’s the third successive year that Guardiola’s side has finished top of the league. And there is now a growing consensus throughout the football world that this Barça team is one of the greatest ever to play the game.
The point was convenient for both sides, with Levante now close to securing their La Liga status for another season. And although the first half was relatively competitive the last 20 minutes of the game saw both teams more than happy to settle for a draw.
The final whistle was greeted with rapturous celebrations, as the entire Barça squad ran onto the pitch to revel in the moment and cap a season of near-total superiority, but one that was also full of drama. In truth, the title is testament to the sheer guts of a side that has negotiated an injury crisis in defence for much of the season. Despite losing a host of players at the back, this remarkable team has only lost two league matches this season, all the while playing with their trademark attacking flair.
Although there was an element of rotation tonight, Barcelona started with David Villa, Messi and Xavi, demonstrating a desire to get the title wrapped up as early as possible with the Champions League final looming large on the horizon.
Levante’s manager Luís García had made it clear before the match that he had no intention of attacking his visitors, and instead anticipated his team’s best opportunities coming from set pieces. So it was little surprise to see the Granotes getting men behind the ball and defending stubbornly. Captain and human monolith Sergio Ballesteros was doing a fine job marshalling his teammates and keeping defensive discipline.
Barcelona’s answer to these tactics was to move the ball patiently and wait for an opening to present itself rather than forcing the issue. As has often been the case this season, Barça eventually found a way through on the half-hour mark.
It was a goal that underlined the unique qualities of Guardiola’s Barça; Xavi spotted Seydou Keita making a run from a deep inside-left position and found the Malian midfielder with a perfect lofted forward pass. Keita barely had to break stride as he headed the ball into the top-left corner from just inside the area.
In response Levante made a concerted effort to put Barça’s defenders under pressure. Their equaliser came after Ecuadorian striker Caicedo took advantage of a mix up between Gerard Piqué and goalkeeper Víctor Valdés.
Lionel Messi came to fore in the second half, lighting up the pitch two outrageous dribbles, only to be denied firstly by the post, and then by the despairing lunge of a Levante defender.
For the final minutes of the match the Barcelona subs were all standing arm in arm, ready for the final whistle, and with it confirmation of another season of domestic domination.
Barça takes 3 points against Levante
January 4th, 2011Xavi equalled the record for the number of appearances for FC Barcelona on Sunday when Levante visited the Nou Camp for the first match of 2011. Xavi has now matched Migueli’s 549 appearances, having played in the first team for 13 seasons.
However, after some of the massive pre-Christmas goal-fests, the New Year seems to have put a bit of a dampner on things. While it is true that the squad was missing Leo Messi, who had been granted some extra days holiday over Christmas, they did struggle to get through to Levante’s goal.
The result was a goalless first half, although Pedro was quick to rectify this situation when they came on after the break – he scored after just a minute. Pedro also scored Barça’s second goal just 12 minutes later, his eighth goal in eight matches. And to make sure it didn’t all go Barcelona’s way, Stuani scored for Levante just nine minutes from time.
The win leaves Barcelona two points ahead of Real Madrid after their 3-2 win over Getafe yesterday.
1-0 Pedro (min 46)
2-0 Pedro (min 58)
2-1 Stuani (min 81)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|
1
|
Barcelona |
17
|
15
|
1
|
1
|
53
|
10
|
46
|
|
2
|
Real Madrid |
17
|
14
|
2
|
1
|
42
|
14
|
44
|
|
3
|
Villarreal |
17
|
11
|
3
|
3
|
32
|
14
|
36
|
|
4
|
Valencia |
17
|
9
|
4
|
4
|
26
|
20
|
31
|
|
5
|
Espanyol |
17
|
9
|
1
|
7
|
19
|
24
|
28
|
|
6
|
Atlético Madrid |
17
|
8
|
3
|
6
|
27
|
19
|
27
|
|
7
|
Getafe |
17
|
8
|
2
|
7
|
28
|
25
|
26
|
|
8
|
Athletic Bilbao |
17
|
8
|
1
|
8
|
26
|
29
|
25
|
|
9
|
Mallorca |
17
|
7
|
3
|
7
|
19
|
20
|
24
|
|
10
|
Sevilla |
17
|
7
|
2
|
8
|
22
|
27
|
23
|
|
11
|
Real Sociedad |
17
|
7
|
1
|
9
|
23
|
28
|
22
|
|
12
|
Deportivo |
17
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
15
|
20
|
21
|
|
13
|
Hércules |
17
|
5
|
4
|
8
|
18
|
25
|
19
|
|
14
|
Racing Santander |
17
|
5
|
4
|
8
|
13
|
23
|
19
|
|
15
|
Osasuna |
17
|
4
|
5
|
8
|
15
|
21
|
17
|
|
16
|
Málaga |
17
|
5
|
1
|
11
|
22
|
36
|
16
|
|
17
|
Levante |
17
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
19
|
28
|
15
|
|
18
|
Zaragoza |
17
|
2
|
7
|
8
|
16
|
28
|
13
|
|
19
|
Almería |
17
|
2
|
7
|
8
|
15
|
27
|
13
|
|
20
|
Sporting Gijón |
17
|
2
|
6
|
9
|
14
|
26
|
12
|
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