Despite never getting out of second gear, Barcelona eased past sloppy Levante to register a comfortable 4-1 victory as Lionel Messi scored twice but also missed a penalty.
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It will be a game quickly forgotten by all parties, with Barca happy to take maximum points from a mediocre performance while Levante know their fate will not be sealed by games like this.
Barca coach Luis Enrique made a bold selection by resting several regulars including Andres Iniesta and Luis Suarez, handing places in the team to young forwards Sandro and Munir El Haddadi, while Adriano was given a rare start at leftback in place of Jordi Alba.
In addition to those personnel changes, Enrique also tinkered with his side’s formation as Messi moved back into an advanced midfield role, with Ivan Rakitic dropping deeper alongside traditional pivot Sergio Busquets.
And perhaps not surprisingly given the players’ unfamiliarity with the system, it was a disjointed performance from the hosts. They initially rarely troubled Levante other than on the few occasions when the visitors made errors, looking imbalanced in midfield with the result that the back four was also sometimes exposed.
There were some chances, starting in the 15th minute when Messi danced into space, had a shot blocked and pounced upon the rebound to try his luck again, only for visiting keeper Ruben to save to his right.
Messi also sent a free-kick over the bar and then created an opportunity for Neymar after Levante for once allowed themselves to get stretched, but the Brazilian winger shot disappointingly wide.
Levante were looking capable of generating chances on the break and they did just that shortly before the half-hour mark as Nabil Ghilas advanced into the area but wrongly chose to shoot, sending his effort wide, when a square pass to fellow frontman Roger Marti would have surely resulted in a goal.
Almost immediately, Barca had a similarly clear chance when a long pass out from Marc-Andre ter Stegen released Munir, who dribbled into shooting position but saw Ruben make a good save at his feet.
Messi had a shot saved and Neymar saw a curler blocked as Barca pushed for the opener before the break, but on the whole Levante looked comfortable as they reached the interval unscathed.
Befitting a rather odd game, the opening goal came through an unusual route as central defender Marc Bartra strode forward to spark an attack, continued his run into the area and received a lofted pass from Messi to slot home a low shot.
That broke the game open and the lead was doubled a few minutes later when Dani Alves crossed from the right and Neymar converted at the far post at the second attempt.
Infographics: Heat maps Barcelona and Levante #fcblive [via @barzaboy] pic.twitter.com/1EaZ8kKd1F
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) September 20, 2015
Then Neymar was clumsily fouled by Angel Trujillo and Messi stepped up to coolly send Ruben the wrong way, seemingly killing the game off.
But a mistake from Ter Stegen, who came for a cross but failed to make contact, allowed substitute Victor Casadesus to sidefoot home and give Levante hope.
The comedy of errors continued as Messi was foolishly pulled back by Zoukair Feddal, only for Messi to smash the spot-kick well over the crossbar for the 17th penalty miss of his career, for club and country. Something that is becoming a worrying trend for a player seemingly so lethal everywhere else on the field.
But the Argentine atoned for that miss with a wonderful dribble and finish in the final minute, bringing a sloppy game to an unsuitably classy finish.
“He isn’t human because he scored two goals and provided an assist,” Barca boss Luis Enrique joked afterwards, when asked if Messi’s struggles from the spot proved he is fallible. “There is very little that makes him seem human.”
