Barcelona 1-0 Levante – Ronald Koeman’s side return to winning ways thanks to

On Dec 14, 2020

Barcelona 1-0 Levante – Lionel Messi to the rescue as he scores a 75th-minute winner to take some pressure off Ronald Koeman’s shoulders after struggling to break down the LaLiga minnows

Barcelona took a narrow win against Levante after losing their last two games
Ronald Koeman’s side struggled to break down the visitors during the game
Levante had their chances in the first-half but struggled in the second period
Lionel Messi scored the winning goal after a pass from Frenkie De Jong
Barcelona close the gap to the top of the table down to nine points after the win

Published: 13:55 EST, 13 December 2020 | Updated: 17:23 EST, 13 December 2020

Lionel Messi needed 10 attempts at goal but he finally found the back of the net against Levante to give Barcelona a crucial home win over bottom three side Levante.

No one tried more than the Barcelona captain but they made hard work of seeing off the strugglers and it was a relief on 76 minutes when he beat the excellent Aitor Fernandez with a shot into the far corner.

Martin Braithwaite and Frenkie de Jong combined to dispossess Mickael Malsa and the Dutch midfielder threaded Messi through. ‘I got a touch on the shot but unfortunately not enough to stop it going in,’ said the Levante keeper.

Lionel Messi’s 75th minute handed Barcelona a vital victory following a difficult week

Messi was found by Frenkie de Jong and the Argentinian’s shot went in off the far post

The hosts had several good chances in the first-half to score but couldn’t find the net

Fernandez had been the outstanding player of the first half making five saves as Barcelona pushed for the opening goal. The home side had 72 percent of possession and 13 shots but Fernandez kept out efforts from Messi, Griezmann and Coutinho.

It was Levante who broke away to have the clearest chance of the first 45 minutes when Jorge de Frutos side-footed his shot from Roger Marti’s cross and saw it saved by Marc Andre ter Stegen.

Messi’s second half goal takes him to 642 goals for Barcelona just one short of Pele’s record of goals for the same club – 643 for Santos.

Levante had their own chances in the first-half with Gonzalo Melero causing some problems

There were small calls for a penalty after Messi had his shirt pulled in the box but wasn’t given

He was given the man-of-the-match at the end of the game but that was generous for what was still, by his standards, a slightly below par showing.

Around him once again there was a lack of magic from Griezmann and Coutinho. The Brazilian was one of Ronald Koeman’s earlier changes as Ronald Koeman shuffled his pack to find a way past Levante in the second period.

At the end Barcelona were hanging on. There was a nervous wait for VAR to decide if Samuel Umtiti had handled a last minute shot at goal. In the end Levante won just the corner but keeper Fernandez went forward for it and got his head to it.

Messi took a while…