Barcelona’s First Big Comeback of the Season! Down 0–2 at Halftime

Levante did everything they could — but it wasn’t enough.

After cruising past Mallorca in the opening round of La Liga, Barcelona faced a much different challenge this time. And ironically, it came against Levante — a club freshly promoted from Segunda.

A Nightmare First Half

Once again, Lewandowski started on the bench, while Rashford featured from the left wing. As usual, most of Barcelona’s attacking play flowed through Yamal, often supported by Raphinha drifting into his zone. Barça’s high defensive line quickly trapped Levante offside — the first within two minutes, and many more throughout the half.

Levante set up with five at the back, compact in their own third. A heavily watered pitch made passing on the ground difficult, which naturally hurt the visitors more, given their 84.8% possession in the first half. Barcelona piled on pressure, even hitting the crossbar through Torres, but it was the hosts who struck first.

A perfect counter saw Romero run onto a sequence of passes. Instead of shooting immediately, he feinted past Cubarsí and fired home from an even better angle — 1–0. His knee-slide celebration fit perfectly with the soaked pitch.

What looked like a fluke soon doubled. Just before the break, Balde blocked a shot with an outstretched arm, and veteran Morales converted the penalty with ease. Levante went into halftime 2–0 up, to the roar of their home fans.

Barça Hit Back

At the break, Xavi made changes, bringing on Gavi and Olmo for Casado and Rashford. The response was immediate. Pedri unleashed a thunderbolt into the top corner (possibly with a slight deflection off Romero’s head), and just two and a half minutes later, Torres headed in Raphinha’s cross. Suddenly it was 2–2.

Barcelona kept pressing for a winner, throwing everything at Levante’s defense. Lewandowski came on for Balde in the 76th minute, nearly scoring but being blocked. Yamal missed narrowly, Raphinha saw a shot deflected, and even Koundé had a chance after coming on.

Decided in Stoppage Time

It all came down to added time. The decisive goal was an own goal, as Elchesabal accidentally headed into his own net under pressure. Call it luck, but with the sheer number of balls Barcelona delivered into the box, the odds of such a mistake were always there.

Barcelona’s comeback was complete — a hard-fought victory that showed resilience. A telling stat: Levante completed only 93 accurate passes the entire game, fewer than Pedri alone (118).

Published by Patrick Jane
25.08.2025