Barcelona have unfinished business as they visit Levante

Aditya Devavrat 18:42 14/12/2018
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  • Levante

    On Sunday, La Liga leaders Barcelona return to the ground where their dreams of going an entire season unbeaten in the league collapsed last season.

    Levante ended their “Invincibles” bid with a 5-4 win in May, and a slip-up this weekend could see Barcelona lose top spot in the league. They go into this round of fixtures with just a three-point lead over Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.

    Here are the talking points ahead of the game.

    BARCELONA ON A MISSION

    The last time these two met, the match became an instant classic. Barcelona, riding a 36-game unbeaten run in La Liga, needed to survive two games to complete a historic unbeaten season.

    Instead, they fell behind 5-1 away to then the league’s 15th-placed side, and then Levante held on in the face of a furious Barcelona comeback to secure a famous 5-4 win, denying La Blaugrana their place in history.

    Sunday’s game, then, offers Barca a shot at revenge. But how much will that previous matchup be on the team’s mind?

    Gerard Pique, for example, came on the pitch to replace Thomas Vermaelen with the score only at 2-0, and then looked all at sea as Levante’s attack punished a leaky defence. Jordi Alba was part of that defence, as well. Ousmane Dembele had one of his worst games of his debut season at the club.

    Philippe Coutinho at least will have some pleasant memories of the game, having scored a hat-trick in Barca’s comeback attempt. And of course, Lionel Messi wasn’t even in the squad.

    This is a game where one Levante goal could bring back haunting memories for Barcelona. Can they overcome that?

    Barcelona will not have happy memories of Levante.

    Barcelona will not have happy memories of Levante.

    LEVANTE A DIFFERENT PROSPECT

    Making the threat even bigger for Barcelona is the fact that this is a different Levante side to the one that beat them. That was a side dealing with the threat of relegation, languishing in 15th place in the table. This Levante is currently sixth, just nine points behind Barca.

    Their penchant for being involved in crazy games hasn’t gone away, however. Just last week, Levante drew 4-4 with Eibar, while they also won 3-0 away against Real Betis – the same Betis that won 4-3 at the Nou Camp just over a month ago.

    And Levante famously beat Real Madrid in October, a result that hastened the end for Julen Lopetegui’s reign at the club; he was sacked one match later after losing to Barcelona.

    Levante also lost 6-2 at home to Sevilla, a poor result but one that still shows how exciting a Levante game can be. And Barcelona don’t need reminding.

    Emmanuel Boateng has been searching for form and fitness this season, having scored only once, and the sight of Barcelona’s defence may be just what he needs. He scored a hat-trick the last time he faced them.

    Even without his goals, however, Levante are a much-improved side compared to the team that pulled off last season’s shock win.

    A loss to Levante hastened the end for Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid.

    A loss to Levante hastened the end for Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid.

    DEMBELE CAN CONTINUE TO PROVE A POINT

    Dembele was Barcelona’s brightest spark on Tuesday against Tottenham, torturing Spurs’ defence throughout, and he’s come a long way from the player who underwhelmed in this fixture last season.

    On that day, as everything was collapsing for Barcelona, Dembele had the worst passing accuracy of any player on his team, barring Paco Alcacer who came on to replace him. He didn’t have a single shot on target, and looked completely disjointed from the rest of Barca’s attack.

    Now, the young Frenchman is in the best form since joining the Catalan club, having scored nine goals and assisted another five in 20 appearances this season.

    His discipline keeps coming under the scanner, as he finds novel ways to be late for training or otherwise get under the skin of his teammates and manager, but Barcelona know his value. Messi stated this week that the club need Dembele, and Barca would be seven points worse off without the 21-year-old’s goals this season.

    As long as he keeps that form up, all his discipline and work ethic issues will be tolerated, if not ignored. Sunday is a good opportunity, on his return to a ground that will hold no happy memories for him, to show how much he’s improved.

    Ousmane Dembele has been silencing the critics.

    Ousmane Dembele has been silencing the critics.

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