It is no exaggeration that this Barcelona team is running like clockwork this season and are looking like the team to beat in Europe and La Liga. Barcelona edged Levante in yet another high-scoring affair with golden boy Lamine Yamal grabbing all the headlines with his brace. This performance comes just days off the back of a 5-1 victory against Feyenoord in their Champions League opener.
A dominant win for the Blaugrana
Barca’s dominant performance came just minutes into the game after teenage fullback Xavi Espart opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Lamine Yamal’s initial pass took a deflection and landed right in the path of Espart, who buried the chance just five minutes in. Barca’s lead doubled just before the 20th minute as Yamal capped off a swift counter-attack, created by Fermin Lopez’s through ball and Raphinha’s cut back.
Barca once again extended their lead right after the half-time break when Yamal stepped up to convert a penalty for his 7th goal of the season. Despite the deficit, Levante remained in the match and made the game interesting late on. Substitute Iván Romero scored in the 79th minute, capitalizing on a defensive error from Espart, and then Roger Brugué scored in the 88th minute to put Levante just one goal behind.
Any hope of a comeback for a Levante comeback was squandered when Karim Adeyemi wrapped up the win for Barca with a stunning solo goal that saw him dribble past two defenders before slotting the ball past Matthew Ryan.
The stats behind Barcelona’s dominant start to the season
This season has matched Barcelona’s best-ever goalscoring start, with Flick’s men matching the club’s record from 1934 with 26 goals in the opening 6 games. This season has matched their best goalscoring start to a season, something even “prime Barca” could not do under Guardiola. This stat alone displays how this Barca side keeps on firing on all cylinders.
With 15 out of 26 goals coming from Yamal and Raphinha, the attacking duo is proving to be at the heart of Barcelona’s dominant front-foot attacking football. Despite Levante putting pressure late on, you just feel as if Barca were too good to let any points drop today. Of course, their defense is still a work in progress and not yet at the level they need, but as Rodri gets more integrated in the squad, he will be able to close that gap and cover space left by Barca’s dangerously high line.
What’s next for Barca?
Before players depart for the upcoming international break next week, Barcelona have two league matches left to play. On Wednesday in midweek action, Barca will return home to face Racing Santander. Just three days later, Barcelona will head on the road to face Sevilla on Saturday.
