Barcelona regain three-point lead with win at Levante

Liga

Barcelona regain three-point lead with win at Levante

La Liga, Ciudad de Valencia - Levante 0, Barcelona 2 (Navarro o.g. 21, Suarez 90+1)

Barcelona survived a scare to claim an unconvincing 2-0 win over Levante, restoring their three-point lead at the top of La Liga.

Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 win over Eibar on Saturday momentarily drew Diego Simeone’s side level at the top of the standings, but the Catalans reinstated the gap - albeit with a below-par and weary performance at the Ciutat de Valencia.

David Navarro’s own goal gave Luis Enrique’s side a first-half lead, but Levante went toe-to-toe with the defending champions and created enough opportunities to at least be level by the half-time interval.

Barcelona failed to find top form after the restart as well, only finding their second goal in stoppage-time of a match Levante had more than played their part in. This was billed as a potential flattening for the strugglers, but in the end Enrique and his players will have been thankful to escape with three points.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Giuseppe Rossi: Javier Mascherano was the standout performer for Barcelona, but it was the display of Giuseppe Rossi that caught the eye most. The Italian forward is at Levante to revive his career on loan from Fiorentina for the rest of the season, and on this season he could be the difference for his new team in their battle to avoid the drop. He gave Barca all kinds of problems at the back and was unlucky not to find the net.

PLAYER RATINGS

Levante - Marino 6, Lopez 5, Navarro 5, Feddal 6, Tono 7, Simao 6, Verza 6, Lerma 5, Morales 6, Deyverson 7, Rossi 8. Subs - Camarasa 5, Cuero 5, Ghilas 5.

Barcelona - Bravo 6, Alves 4, Pique 5, Mascherano 7, Alba 6, Roberto 5, Rakitic 5, Iniesta 5, Messi 5, Neymar 6, Suarez 6. Subs - Vidal 5, Busquets 6

KEY STATS

David Navarro’s own goal opener for Barcelona was the 68,000th in La Liga history.

Luis Suarez has scored more goals than any other player in La Liga this season (20).

Luis Enrique’s side have now stretched their unbeaten run to 28 games - matching the record set by Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team in the 2010/11 season.

TALKING POINT

Are Barcelona showing signs of weariness? Levante had reason to be apprehensive ahead of this match, given Barcelona’s stunning midweek Copa Del Rey thumping of Valencia. But the Catalans - perhaps for the first time this season - showed signs if tiredness, having played so many games in such a short space of time. Levante gave as good as they have got for much of the contest, only to be undone by an unfortunate own goal. Barcelona got away with this one.