Three Takeaways From Barcelona’s Sloppy Win Against Levante

Barcelona were far from their best but still defeated Levante 4–2 on Sunday afternoon to make it six wins on the bounce to start the 2026–27 season.

It was business as usual from the start for Hansi Flick’s Barcelona as Xavi Espart opened the scoring inside the first five minutes with the first goal of his professional career. Lamine Yamal doubled the lead later in the first half following a strong run and clever cut-back from Raphinha, who notched his second assist of the day.

Lamine Yamal added a third from a penalty he created soon after the restart, putting the game on cruise control with over 40 minutes to go. But Flick’s side got a little too comfortable and eventually allowed Levante to crawl back into the game.

A brutal Xavi Espart turnover led to Ivan Romero pulling one back before Roger Brugué ran past the entirety of Barça’s defense to make it a one-goal game out of nowhere with 10 minutes to go. Karim Adeyemi had to manufacture a brilliant solo goal late to erase the growing nerves and confirm the result.

Barcelona remain perfect on the season, and their sensational attack continues to impress, but the win against Levante still left the Catalans with issues to resolve. Here are three takeaways from the match.

Xavi Espart Is the Real Deal

One of the biggest stories of the season so far at Barcelona is the breakout of La Masia teenager Xavi Espart. Competing against João Cancelo and Alejandro Balde for a spot in the XI, Espart has started every La Liga game so far and has been one of the team’s best players early in the campaign.

Espart is not a left back—his primary position is at right back; however, he rose though the academy ranks as a prototypical Barcelona midfielder. Still, the youngster hasn’t put a foot wrong playing away from his natural position; to the contrary, he’s made Barça better.

The teenager’s natural instinct to drift centrally in possession fits perfectly with Flick’s system, allowing Anthony Gordon to supply the width as a touchline winger. Balde, for example, struggled a season ago because his natural instinct is to fly down the touchline, and he constantly got obstructed by Marcus Rashford ahead of him occupying that same space.

Espart’s ability to play as an inverted fullback has helped Barça immensely in possession, leading to him already bagging two assists, and on Sunday, he scored the first goal of his senior career after he received the ball centrally near the edge of the penalty area.

Barcelona fans have already started to compare him to Germany legend Phillip Lahm, but although he still has a long way to go to reach that level, he currently is more than deserving of the starting role he has won. Cancelo and, especially, Balde face a mighty challenge to crack the XI.

It must be said, though, that his turnover which led to Levante’s consolation goal was egregious.

Lamine Yamal’s First 30-Goal Season Brewing?

Questions surrounding Lamine Yamal’s form to start the season were loud, given it had been over three months since he performed at his dazzling best and was kept relatively quiet during Spain’s World Cup run.

Barça’s No. 10 failed to register a single goal contribution during the first two games of the season, yet now, he has seven goal contributions in his last four appearances and three-straight La Liga games with a brace.

Consistency and sharpness in front of goal was a part of Yamal’s game that needed refining. He’s always been a master dribbler and a talent capable of creating chances out of nowhere, but he wasn’t always the best finisher.

With his brace today, Yamal is up to six La Liga goals, almost halfway to his total tally of last season. He’s also more than a quarter of the way to the 24 goals he bagged in all competitions a season ago—his highest single-season tally.

With how confident Yamal looks in front of goal and how formidable Barcelona are in attack, it would be shocking if, barring injury, 2026–27 isn’t the first 30-goal season of his career.

Barcelona’s Sloppiest Game of the Term

Pedri (middle) was far from sharp. | Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

The game was never in real jeopardy, and the final result tells the story of another dominant Barça win. Nevertheless, it was far from a flawless performance from the Catalans—in fact, it was their worst of the term.

The scorching heat might’ve been a factor, but Flick’s men were uncharacteristically sloppy in possession, especially playing out of the back. Levante’s press worked well, but Barça also took many unnecessary risks at the back, trying to dribble out of tight situations, which led to dangerous turnovers.

Barcelona never felt truly comfortable on the pitch, with lethargically-slow possessions, routine mistakes and passiveness defining their performance on Sunday. A sense of complacency even set in late, which allowed Levante to get back in the game and make the final minutes a tense, nervy affair.

The mighty punch of Barcelona’s attack allowed them to overcome their otherwise messy and erratic showing. However, Levante exposed some of Barça’s flaws unlike any other team has this term, particularly defensively. Had the hosts been more clinical—Levante missed three of their five big chances—the outcome could’ve looked much different.

Flick, finally, has plenty of work to do to clean up the mistakes, because for a while against Levante, Barcelona looked like the flawed side from a season ago, one that consistently shot itself in the foot.

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