Results of round 22 La Liga
Real Madrid’s 1-0 win at Atletico yesterday put Barcelona under pressure. After losing to Valencia and if they continue to lose points against Levante, the club of Catalonia is in danger of losing their breath in the championship race.
Barcelona started excited and put the team up to press Levante. The effort of Setien’s army was concretized with Fati’s two consecutive goals in the first half. Messi was the one who left the mark with two assists for the youngster to score.
In the second half, Barcelona took the initiative to play slowly to reduce safety in the deep part of the house, although they also had clear opportunities. Levante’s effort only helped them get an equalizer at the end of the match thanks to Rochina.
After 22 rounds of La Liga, Barcelona still ranked second with 46 points, 3 points behind Real Madrid. The championship race is still open ahead and Barca understand that they are not allowed to lose points in the remaining 16 matches.
By the 31st minute, this young 18-year-old talent continued to help Barca lead 2-0
Injured by Luis Suarez, coach Quique Setien used Fati to start the attack with Messi, Griezmann. The task of controlling the midfield area was given to De Jong, Rakitic and Busquets.
Barca quickly overwhelmed the visitors after the opening whistle and consecutive bombardment situations created by Messi and Griezmann, but both proved unfortunate with the finishing phase of the column.
In addition, Messi also had a situation where the ball was cut into the forte in the 14th minute but the last correction was too light, not hard enough to beat goalkeeper Fernandes.
Messi impressed in both Fati’s goals
The turning point came only in the 30th minute, when Messi received the ball in the middle of the field, then made a razor-sharp path to Fati from the left wing using the ice speed down. The 18-year-old striker defeated goalkeeper Levante in a face-to-face situation with a decisive finish between his legs, opening the score 1-0 for Barcelona.
Exactly 1 minute, Messi led the ball in the middle, the Argentine superstar went the ball like no one and then trimmed the ball for Fati. With two neat beats, Fati once again hooked the goalkeeper to double the gap to 2-0 for Barcelona.
Messi has twice assisted the young talent Fati twice goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez on Levante. The 2-0 lead helped Barcelona gain a comfortable mental momentum and play leisurely in the next minutes.
Griezmann missed the chance to score in the first half
Having a quick lead advantage, Barca continues to dominate the game and create opportunities. Semedo made an impression with his enthusiasm on the right corridor. In the 36th minute, the Portuguese defender broke down the penalty area and then shot the ball with his left foot.
10 minutes later, with a cross, Semedo stretched horizontally for Griezmann to run and cut the shot from the near post, but the ball went inaccurate. Barcelona had a lot of chances in the first half, but the striker definitely shot in a hurry.
De Jong played quite well in the role of holding the rhythm of the game in the middle of the field
Entering the second half, Barca reduced the intensity of ball control and focused more on defense. Therefore, the Catalan team did not create many delicious opportunities like the first half but played firmly.
The most noticeable situation that the club of Catalonia created in the second half was Messi’s close-range phase and immediately followed up the tape from Busquets’s two-line finish.
Messi left many marks in the match against Levante
Levante created a couple of clear chances and the visitors’ efforts only paid off when the game went into extra time, with a long-range shot like Rochina’s keeper and Ter Stegen’s mistake.
Barcelona won the final 2-1 at the Nou Camp, but the score did not reflect the true situation of the match when Messi and his teammates missed many opportunities and could not win a bold victory.
Squad
Barcelona : Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; De Jong (Arthur, 80 ’), Busquets, Rakitic; Messi, Griezmann (Sergi Roberto, 70 ’), Ansu Fati (Riqui Puig, 86’).
Goals: Fati (30 ’, 31’)
Levante : Aitor Fernández; Miramón, Ruben Vezo, Postigo, Toño; Campaña, Melero (Hernani, 59 ’), Vukcevic, Rochina; Roger, Morales (Mayoral, 59 ’).
Goals: Rochina (90 + 2 ’)
La Liga standings after round 22
