Barcelona held off a determined Levante comeback to win 4-2 and maintain their perfect start to the La Liga season.
The Catalan side had led 3-0 early in the second half, but Levante scored twice to set up a tense finish before Adeyemi’s stoppage-time goal settled the contest. The result gives Hans-Dieter Flick’s team 15 points from their opening five matches, while Real Madrid are three points behind.
Barcelona arrived in Valencia with 12 points from their first four league games, compared with Levante’s five. They had also beaten Feyenoord 5-0 in the Champions League during the week and had scored five goals in each of their previous three matches.
Wearing their third kit, the visitors made a quick start. Rodri’s pass through the middle found Raphinha, who combined with Fermin Lopez before creating room for Espart. From around the edge of the penalty area, Espart sent a low shot into the bottom-left corner to put Barcelona ahead.
Levante began to threaten after the 10th minute, particularly down their right wing. Victor Garcia intercepted Gerard Martin’s pass and saw his subsequent effort blocked. From the resulting corner, Olasagasti delivered into the near side of the penalty area, where de la Fuente flicked the ball on with his heel, but Joan Garcia kept out Ratkov’s shot.
Levante’s aggressive pressing then worked against them. With several home players committed near Barcelona’s penalty area, Fermin Lopez played a long pass towards Raphinha. Despite de la Fuente’s attempt to intervene, the ball reached the Brazilian, who moved in from the left and squared for Lamine Yamal to finish from close range. Mandi was unable to stop the ball on the goal line and Barcelona doubled their advantage.
Levante continued to make the match uncomfortable. Victor Garcia caught Gerard Martin in the face with an elbow, although the referee did not review the incident, and Martin was replaced at half-time. Pedri also lost possession inside his own penalty area, but Levante failed to take advantage when Victor Garcia’s effort went over after Espart challenged him legally.
Barcelona were awarded a penalty shortly after the restart. Mandi handled while on the ground, but the referee initially allowed play to continue despite Yamal’s appeal. Moments later, Mandi brought Yamal down with his legs, and this time the referee pointed to the spot. Yamal converted, sending the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Levante refused to surrender. Victor Garcia continued to cause problems, beating Christensen before rolling the ball to Romero, whose shot was blocked. Romero then pulled one back after Espart’s pass intended for Christensen went astray, allowing him to punish Barcelona’s defence.
Brugge added a second in the left corner after fighting his way between Bernal and Cubarsi and beating Joan Garcia at the second attempt.
Adeyemi had earlier missed the target with a “scorpion” effort, but he broke into the left side of Levante’s penalty area in added time and finished beyond Ryan to make it 4-2. Barcelona scored fewer than five goals for the first time in four matches, but still secured their fifth consecutive La Liga victory.