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Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Sunday, 24 Feb
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

FC Barcelona: 5
Levante UD: 1

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

More info

Goals

1-0 Xavi (14')
1-1 Riga (41')
2-1 Messi (44')
3-1 Eto'o (55')
4-1 Eto'o (62')
5-1 Eto'o (86')

Scoring goals and still looking good (5-1)

Jordi Clos

Barça were unforgiving with Levante in a game which highlighted the difference between the two teams. With goals from Xavi, Messi and a hat-trick from Eto'o, Barça are still hot on the heels of Madrid.

With the visit from bottom placed Levante, a high-scoring game was to be expected, and Barça certainly delivered. Despite the score line, Barça had to work hard, especially in the first half. Xavi was the first to get a goal, but Riga pulled one back from a penalty in the 41st minute. Then it was down to Messi to score a cracker just before half-time, leaving Barça to completely dominate the game during the second half. The highlight of the game was Eto’o’s hat-trick, which showed Barça’s superiority as well as the good moment the team is going through.

Early goal from Xavi

The start was predictable: Barça had nearly all the possession and took the game to Levante, who were pushed back and had real problems keeping possession when they tried to break away. Levante struggled to contain Barça’s front three (Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi). Yet it was midfielder Xavi who opened the score line, netting a dead ball after brilliant play from Iniesta and Eto'o in creating the chance (14').

A fright, then the response

Soon after Ronaldinho nearly scored when he found himself alone inside the box, only to shoot over the goal. It seemed like it was going to be a one-team show, but Barça lost their spark in attack and Levante started to fight back. Geijo nearly scored but Valdés and the post saved a draw. Then in the 41st minute Riga scored from a penalty after a handball from Zambrotta, but the fright was short lived. It was down to Messi, after a one-two with Xavi, to score a cracker just before half-time, finding a gap where none seemed to exist.

Blaugrana superiority

Barça came back on in the second half not wanting to have any more frights. Eto’o put the game beyond doubt in the 55th minute after a beautiful pass from Messi. Then the same two players, with the initial help of Touré Yaya, produced the fourth in which the Cameroon player virtually accompanied the ball into the net.

Eto'o’s hat-trick

From here on in, the game became a round of passing, with Barça maintaining possession for long periods, and Levante simply trying to limit the scale of defeat. Eto'o rounded things off by getting a hat-trick, which should boost both his and the team’s confidence in the championship race.

Preview

Barça has not lost a game in 2008

Barça and Almeria are the only two teams in the Spanish league who haven’t lost a game in 2008. Barça have won seven and drawn six in all their league, cup and Champions League games.

Back to the league

Jordi Clos

After the victory in Glasgow, Barça is at home to the bottom placed Levante (19:00 Barça TV, PPV, Radio Barça). The team now enters the decisive part of the season with a full calendar coming up.

With little time to recover from the game at Celtic park, Frank Rijkaard’s men face another league game, this time against bottom placed Levante. Despite their grave financial situation and low-lying position, they have only lost one of their previous five games. For Barça, today it’s the league, then on Wednesday the cup semi-final against Valencia.

Still alive in three competitions

The full calendar coming up is what corresponds to a team who are still alive in three competitions. And it’s been done in the best way possible: with nearly all the squad available and with victories in Zaragoza and Glasgow behind them. The nine point difference with Madrid has been narrowed to five in three weeks. The league is still wide open.

After the victory in Glasgow, Barça is at home to the bottom placed Levante. Levante’s problems started soon after their home defeat at the hands of Barça (1-4) at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Eight days later coach Abel Resino was sacked, and an institutional crisis set in. Despite these problems, Levante haven’t thrown in the towel, and they have only lost at San Mamés in the second half of the league.

Eto’o and Touré are back

Because of the full schedule coming up, the Dutch coach is giving Henry and Deco a rest. The injured Márquez, Ezquerro, Oleguer and Jorquera are also out. Bojan, Edmílson and Zambrotta are back in the squad. What’s more, Nou Camp could see the return of Eto’o and Touré after their participation in the African Nations Cup.

Institutional crisis at Levante

Levante coach Giovanni de Biasi has had his work cut out, having to choose four players from the reserve team to make the trip. Before leaving for Barcelona, the club had more strife. The players refused to train on Friday, and on Saturday the chief shareholder Pedro Villaroel sold his stake in the club to board chairman Julio Romero. Amidst all this, Levante, ten points adrift from safety, face a Barça who will be out to do the double on them.