This is Sportstar's match blog of the La Liga clash between Barcelona and Levante at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia.
That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
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With this 3-3 draw against Levante, Barcelona is all but out of the La Liga title race this season with 76 points from 36 matches. Both Atletico Madrid (77) and Real Madrid (75) have a game in hand and are better placed when it comes to head-to-head record as well.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
AND IT'S FULL-TIME! FINAL SCORE: BARCELONA 3 - 3 LEVANTE!!!
90' Four minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Lionel Messi takes a corner for Barcelona. The Levante defence clears the ball away and initiates a counter-attack. Sergio Leon tries to find the target from long-range but Gerard Pique makes the block for Barca.
87' FINAL SUBSTITUTION! This is the last throw of the dice by FC Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman. He brings on Ricard Puig to replace Sergi Roberto, who is actually limping off the field.
84' GOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!!! SERGIO LEON EQUALISES!!! LEVANTE 3 - 3 BARCELONA!!!! Tono wrong-foots Sergino Dest with ease and supplies a low cross into the middle. The ball takes a slight deflection off Dest and reaches Leon, who uses his outer foot to find the back of the net.
81' TWO CHANGES FOR BARCA! Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman decides to bring on Martin Braithwaite and Sergino Dest for Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele on the field.
78' BOOKING! Frenkie de Jong receives a yellow card from the referee for coming up with a silly tackle. He will now miss FC Barcelona's final home match against Celta Vigo due to an accumulation of cards. Big miss!
75' SUBSTITUTIONS FOR EITHER SIDE! Pedri makes way for Oscar Mingueza in the middle for Barcelona. Meanwhile, in the case of Levante, Jorge Miramon and Marti Roger are replaced by Coke and Sergio Leon, respectively.
72' CORNER FOR LEVANTE! There's a cross into the box from the right. Clement Lenglet makes a weak clearance for Barcelona. The ball falls to Jorge de Frutos who unleashes a powerful shot from the edge of the box. It goes way over the crossbar.
69' OFFSIDE! Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is a little too eager to get to a pass from Pedri. The linesman immediately raises his flag and the referee awards Levante a free-kick.
66' YELLOW CARD! This is the first booking of the match. Levante forward Jorge de Frutos goes into the referee's book for arguing too much after committing a foul and conceding a free-kick to Barcelona.
63' GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! OUSMANE DEMBELE SCORES!!! BARCELONA 3 - 2 LEVANTE!!!!! Dembele was the first to get to a rebound off an Antoine Griezmann shot. He takes a good first touch and buries the ball from close range straight into the top left corner. There will be a VAR check for potential foul, but the goal stands.
60' GOOOOAAAAALLLL!!! JOSE MORALES EQUALISES!!!!!! LEVANTE 2 - 2 BARCELONA!!!!!! Morales latches on to a brilliant assist from Marti Roger after completing a delightful one-two pass. He eventually fires a first-time shot into the bottom right corner.
57' GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!! GONZALO MELERO SCORES!!! LEVANTE 1 - 2 BARCELONA! Melero pulls one back for the home team after receiving an inch-perfect cross supplied by Jorge Miramon from the right wing. Sergi Roberto, who replaced Ronald Araujo for Barca at half-time, should have done better inside the box.
54' CHANCE FOR LEVANTE! Jorge de Frutos sends a long ball up front. Gonzalo Melero tries to control it and release a shot. However, his attempt goes way over the goal post.
51 VERY CLOSE! This was a good move from Levante. Tono rushed forward on the left flank and sent a cross into the middle. Roger Marti got to the ball and produced a weak effort as Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a straightforward save for Barca.
48' EARLY CHANCE FOR BARCA! Captain Lionel Messi receives a wonderful pass inside the box, dribbles past a Levante defender and takes a shot towards goal. However, he misses the target by a whisker.
THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!
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AND IT'S HALF-TIME! SCORE: BARCELONA 2 - 0 LEVANTE!!!
45' No additional time added on at the end of the first half here! Sergio Busquets latches onto a lofted pass from his Barca teammate Lionel Messi on the edge of the box, but misdirects his header and sends it just wide of the left post.
42' FOUL! FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong brings down his Levante UD counterpart Gonzalo Melero with a mistimed challenge. The referee immediately awards the host a free-kick but doesn't penalise De Jong.
39' CORNER FOR BARCA NOW! Lionel Messi will take this one. He sends in a heavy cross which misses all his teammates and goes out on the other side for a Levante throw-in.
36' ANOTHER CORNER FOR LEVANTE! Enis Bardhi will take it as usual. He works out a short corner and receives the ball again. However, his cross into the box is cleared away easily by the Barcelona defence.
33' GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! PEDRI SCORES NOW!!! BARCELONA 2 - 0 LEVANTE!!!!!! Ousmane Dembele came up with an amazing sprint on the right flank. He powered past Levante centre-back Oscar Duarte into the box and assisted Pedri in the middle for a tap-in.
30' BACK-TO-BACK CHANCES FOR BARCA! Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba come up with wonderful shots which miss the target by a whisker. Messi hit the ball just wide off the right post, while Alba targeted the left post.
27' GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!! LIONEL MESSI SCORES!!! BARCELONA 1 - 0 LEVANTE!!!!! Jordi Alba's cross from the left flank is deflected off Jorge Miramon's head. The ball eventually falls to Messi who successfully attempts a first-time volley and finds the back of the net.
24' Clement Lenglet decides to go on a sprint himself. He evades the tackles of a couple of opposition players and takes a shot from long. But its goes straight towards Levante shot-stopper Aitor Fernandez.
21' Levante's Tono goes past Barca's Ousmane Dembele with ease on the left wing. He gets close to the box but isn't able to supply a low cross into the box as Gerard Pique makes a crucial interception.
18' SHOT! Jose Morales takes the ball forward for Levante. He tries to compose himself, looks on either side and fires the ball way over the crossbar. Poor decision making from the midfielder.
15' CORNER FOR LEVANTE! This is the first one of the match and surprisingly it goes to the home side, which has been dominated by Barcelona so far. Enis Bardhi is on set-piece duty and he puts too much power on the ball as Barca regains possession.
12' CLOSE! Ousmane Dembele does well to control a long ball across the field and rushes forward. He tries to put a through pass towards Antoine Griezmann up front but it is just inches wide as Fernandez collects the ball.
9' CHANCE FOR LEVANTE! A good cross by Jorge de Frutos from the right side of the pitch flies into the box. However, neither Jose Morales nor Marti Roger is able to get to the ball as the Barcelona defence gets away with it.
6' FREE-KICK FOR BARCA! After Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez makes an amazing save to deny Barca a goal, skipper Lionel Messi is fouled just outside the box. He takes the resulting set-piece himself and crashes the ball into the wall.
3' WHAT A CHANCE FOR BARCA! Frenkie de Jong receives a great pass from Ronald Araujo on the right flank and tries to set up Pedri inside the box. But the latter fires his shot way over the bar after receiving the low cross.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
The players come into the field and it's time for the toss!
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The team lineups are out!
BARCELONA XI: M ter Stegen (G), G Pique, C Lenglet, J Alba, Pedri, F de Jong, S Busquets, R Araujo, O Dembele, L Messi (C), A Griezmann.
COACH: Ronald Koeman.
LEVANTE XI: A Fernandez (G), E Bardhi, J de Frutos, O Duarte, G Melero, J Miramon, J Morales (C), Rober Pier, M Roger, Tono, R Vezo.
COACH: Paco Lopez.
MATCH PREVIEW:
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman still believes his side can win the title despite failing to beat La Liga leader Atletico Madrid on Saturday but said his team must not suffer any more slip ups in its remaining three games.
The 0-0 draw at home to Atleti left Barca third in the standings, two points behind Diego Simeone's side and level with second-placed Real Madrid, which snatched a 2-2 draw against visitor Sevilla on Sunday.
Barca can go provisionally top La Liga by winning its next game at Levante on Tuesday but Atletico and Real will have to drop points in their remaining fixtures if the Catalans are to get their hands on the trophy.
"We're going to fight until the last moment to win La Liga. It's no longer in our hands but we can't commit any more errors," Koeman told a news conference on Monday.
The Dutchman also said his side was jaded after an unforgiving season and congested fixture schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He also felt the lack of supporters was to blame for Barcelona's lowest points total in home matches since the 2002/03 season.
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"We are at our limits but so is every team, especially those who have played in Europe or got to finals. There's been so many games and in the end they take their toll on you," he said.
Barca reached the Champions League last 16 this season before going out to Paris St-Germain. It also played in the Copa del Rey final, beating Athletic Bilbao.
"Playing without fans also has an impact, that's why team has dropped so many points at home. It's not normal to play so many games. In the end, the team that is strongest physically and mentally will win the title."
Koeman also said he did not see all of Real's match with Sevilla as he does not enjoy watching Barca's title rivals play.
He said Real's complaints about Eder Militao's handball was nothing to do with him but expressed his sympathy over the lack of clarity on handball decisions.
"I watched the first 20 minutes of Real Madrid and then AC Milan against Juventus because watching the (Real) game made me nervous. I prefer to watch a different game and find out the result when it's over," he said.
"If Madrid think that it was treated unfairly then that's its problem. All I will say is, as a coach, we've reached the point where we no longer know when a handball is a handball."
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