Barcelona vs. Levante: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Barcelona moved back within a single point of Real Madrid at the top of the table on Sunday, as they demolished Levante 5-0 in a scintillating performance at Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi added yet another hat-trick to his vast collection as Luis Enrique's side produced a stunning display, with Neymar opening the scoring and his eventual replacement, Luis Suarez, rounding things off with a brilliant bicycle kick in the closing stages.
Levante started reasonably brightly but the pressure quickly became too much for them, as they slipped down to 19th in La Liga table.
Click on for some winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Lionel Messi
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He just keeps getting better and better. It is hard to pass any sort of comment about Messi's performances when "good" and "bad" are such different concepts to those used with most normal players; but this was another brilliant display, against admittedly limited opposition.
Messi had his side's first shot of the game, and then broke the deadlock when his brilliantly perceptive cross-field ball found Neymar unmarked at the back post. From that point he took over the goalscoring duties, scoring two simple close-range finishes before coolly slotting home from the penalty spot to wrap up yet another hat-trick.
Messi is quickly catching Cristiano Ronaldo in the goalscoring charts for this season, and is growing ever more integral to his side's attacking fortunes—even as Neymar and Suarez come on leaps and bounds themselves. Together, and with Pedro also assisting, the club's strike force are hitting an incredibly rich vein of form.
With the return of the Champions League fast approaching, that could not come at a better time for all concerned—except those they will have to play against.
Winner: Luis Suarez
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Messi was undoubtedly the star of the game, but it was substitute Suarez who scored its finest goal—as he showed his acrobatic side late in the game to smash home a wonderful bicycle kick.
"Luis Suarez scored this overhead kick 6 minutes after coming on vs. Levante. pic.twitter.com/NKoDCZsWaC
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 15, 2015"
It was a wonderful strike from the Uruguayan, but it also felt like something of a turning point as the crowd chanted his name in appreciation.
The striker has been working hard in recent weeks and months without perhaps getting the full reward for his endeavours, but his goal capped off a sharp, incisive cameo—reasserting his own importance immediately after Pedro had pressed his own case for increased inclusion.
Clearly, he still has work to do to fully gel with Neymar and Messi but this was a nice moment for the striker and bodes well heading into the remainder of the campaign (and beyond).
Loser: The Nou Camp Attendance
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The official attendance was announced at 74,963, but even if we can take that at its word (and it is doubtful we can) then that is still a significant number of empty seats for a weekend home game at an amenable time of day.
Following as closely as it did to the record low attendance that turned out for the Copa del Rey semi-final meeting with Villarreal, it is perhaps worth wondering what is going on with the ticketing situation at Barcelona, and whether some season ticket holders are growing frustrated even apathetic to what is going on on the pitch.
It is perhaps something the club will monitor closely over the rest of the season. A return to the very best performances of recent seasons will bring everyone rushing back, however, and this was certainly a display that fits such a description.
Afterwards, president Josep Maria Bartomeu said (per Inside Spanish Football):
"It was a good game and a good result. All the fans enjoyed the match and the goals [on show].
Given the recent holidays and increasing [travel] costs, 74,000 is a good number [of spectators] but also a significant number.
[In order to increase attendances], the [fixture] schedule should be more accommodating for children.
We’ve also managed to let in older [club] members and children for free this weekend, but the long weekend made it harder [to attract fans].
"
Winner: Marc Bartra
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Barcelona's defence was hardly asked to do overtime over the course of the game, but Marc Bartra was nonetheless a prominent presence throughout. He threw himself at a couple of dangerous shots and crosses to deny the lively David Barral, helping to preserve a clean sheet that should perhaps never have been thrown away anyway.
Going forward Bartra made a similar impact, making the crucial tackle and pass for Messi's second goal of the game, a strike that made it 3-0 and effectively sealed the points.
On a day where Luis Enrique made a number of changes to his usual side, Bartra was not the only one to impress (Martin Montoya, Pedro and Xavi all did well). But he certainly gave his manager much to ponder as he plots for the rest of the campaign.
Loser: Levante's Morale
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Coming away with even a point from the Camp Nou was always going to be a tough ask for Levante, and indeed their eventual 5-0 defeat was less painful than a number of teams have experienced at the hands of Barcelona down the years. But this was an evisceration almost from start to finish; a team low on morale quickly being plunged further into the morass.
Firmly in the relegation zone, much will depend on how Levante respond to this defeat in the coming weeks. They may have been on a hiding to nothing but they still got a hiding, and they will have to shake off the memory of Messi, Neymar and Pedro terrorising them quickly if they are to get the results they now need to clamber away from danger.
