Barcelona are the best show in world football as they consistently provide us with entertaining matches.
The match against Levante was no exception as Barcelona made a comeback down 2-0 at the half and did it in dramatic late fashion with a winner in the 91st minute thanks to an own goal from Unai Elgezabal.
There are three major things that we can take away from this game and we will discuss them one by one.
Pedri Best Midfielder In The World
Pedri once again showed why he’s the best midfielder in the world. Not that it isn’t close as Bellingham and Vitinha have fair cases but there’s only one player like Pedri.
He had an amazing goal today that helped spark the comeback, but it’s everything outside of that which makes Pedri stand out. He completed more passes than the entire Levante team and dominated in the second half with his control of the game.
He won Man of the Match for this game and it’s not something new as he had a stretch of 20 games last season where he won Man of the Match in 15 of them.
There are fair arguments for others as stated before, but Pedri has consistently played like the best in the world in his position.
Defense and Comebacks
This Barcelona defense won’t be much different than last year and that sets Barcelona up to be comeback kings similar to last year.
The highline remains unchanged despite Ronald Araujo being the starter now which should be unsurprising due to the way Hansi Flick is.
This means games like this will often happen for Barcelona just like last year as they are set up to be gotten at but the attacking power is often times too much for the opponent.
So for Barcelona fans, expect these defensive performances and comeback to continue and hope that it doesn’t bite the team like it did last year against Inter.
Raphinha Is Not A 10
Since Marcus Rashford’s move to Barcelona, many fans were hopeful of a lineup that included Yamal, Raphinha, and Rashford playing together which included Raphinha as a 10.
Today in the first half it was shown why this shouldn’t be a real option heading into a game. In certain game states, it can work especially if Barca are chasing a game and need goals.
To start a game though, it doesn’t work because he’s often occupying Lamine’s spaces and is too disconnected from the rest of the midfield. He seemed unsure where to find the pockets of space and next pass which made Barcelona’s attack look less fluid.
It was a dream experiment, but it’s one that simply doesn’t work to start off a game.
