Spanish La Liga
LevanteLevante5BarcelonaBarcelona4

Levante 5-4 Barcelona

By Emlyn BegleyBBC Sport
Emmanuel Boateng
Emmanuel Boateng scored his first hat-trick to inflict Ernesto Valverde's first league defeat as Barcelona boss

Barcelona's dream of going a whole La Liga season unbeaten ended in their penultimate game as they were beaten by lowly Levante in a remarkable match.

The hosts moved into a 5-1 lead, with Emmanuel Boateng scoring a hat-trick and Enis Bardhi netting twice.

Barca's Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick of his own and Luis Suarez netted a penalty to set up a tense finale.

But the champions could not find an equaliser as they fell to a first La Liga defeat in 44 games.

Ernesto Valverde, beaten in the league for the first time as Barcelona boss, may regret his decision to rest top scorer Lionel Messi for the trip to 15th-placed Levante.

After coming through their game against Real Madrid unbeaten last weekend, it looked as though history beckoned for Barcelona.

No side have gone an entire Spanish top flight season unbeaten since the 1930s, when there were only 18 games in a season.

But they fell just short in a match that almost defied logic - they had only conceded 24 goals in their opening 36 games.

With the league and cup double already wrapped up, and their Champions League run long over, it makes next Sunday's final game against Real Sociedad largely irrelevant - except to send off departing captain Andres Iniesta.

How the mayhem unfolded

Andres Iniesta
Andres Iniesta was replaced to a standing ovation from both sets of fans at 5-2

9 mins: 1-0 - Boateng opens the scoring, via the crossbar, after good play by Jose Luis Morales

13 mins: Almost a second goal as Bardhi hits the post from close range

30 mins: 2-0 - with Thomas Vermaelen off the pitch injured, Boateng goes round goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and slams into an empty net after evading defender Nelson Semedo

38 mins: 2-1 - Luis Suarez finds Coutinho, whose 20-yard shot is deflected into the net

46 mins: 3-1 - less than a minute into the second half Bardhi curls a fabulous effort home from the edge of the box

49 mins: 4-1 - Boateng scores the first hat-trick of his career as he smashes home a first-time effort from former Aston Villa defender Antonio Luna's pass

56 mins: 5-1 - Levante are in dreamland. Barcelona leave too much space at the back and Roger Marti plays the ball to Bardhi, who smashes home

59 mins: 5-2 - Coutinho slams home from close range after Suarez's shot is blocked, but surely they cannot come back?

64 mins: 5-3 - Coutinho joins Boateng in the hat-trick club with another deflected shot from outside the box - but they still need two more

71 mins: 5-4 - Suarez scores a penalty after Sergio Busquets is fouled, and at this stage a comeback looks likely

90 mins: Levante should make it 6-4 as Busquets' backpass does not find his keeper - but Ruben Rochina puts it wide from close range

94 mins: The full-time whistle goes to spark huge celebrations at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia, and probably in Madrid too

Famous win for Levante

Levante
Levante have now won five consecutive La Liga games

Barcelona should have expected a difficult evening at Levante, who have had a dramatic revival under boss Paco Lopez.

When he was promoted from his role as reserve-team boss in March, the club were only one point above the relegation zone.

But they have now won eight of their 10 games since his appointment - to take them 17 points clear of the bottom three.

Lopez said it would be "historic" for Levante, in their first season back in the top flight following promotion, to beat Barcelona and there were big celebrations at the final whistle on a famous night for the club nicknamed the Frogs.

Line-ups

Levante

Formation 4-4-2

  • 13Olazábal
  • 12Andújar MorenoBooked at 62mins
  • 15Postigo
  • 4Suárez Pier
  • 22Luna
  • 11MoralesSubstituted forRochinaat 85'minutes
  • 20Lukic
  • 24CampañaBooked at 70mins
  • 10BardhiBooked at 22mins
  • 9MartíSubstituted forLermaat 69'minutesBooked at 88mins
  • 21BoatengBooked at 37minsSubstituted forPazziniat 77'minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 1Villar
  • 8Lerma
  • 16Rochina
  • 17Pazzini
  • 18Cabaco
  • 19López
  • 25Al Muwallad Al-Harbi

Barcelona

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1ter Stegen
  • 2Nélson Semedo
  • 24MinaBooked at 90mins
  • 25VermaelenBooked at 20minsSubstituted forPiquéat 31'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 18AlbaBooked at 90mins
  • 4Rakitic
  • 5BusquetsBooked at 65mins
  • 11DembéléSubstituted forAlcácerat 60'minutes
  • 8IniestaSubstituted forD Suárezat 60'minutesBooked at 89mins
  • 14Coutinho
  • 9SuárezBooked at 88mins

Substitutes

  • 3Piqué
  • 6D Suárez
  • 13Cillessen
  • 15Paulinho
  • 17Alcácer
  • 19Digne
  • 21André Gomes
Referee:
Mario Melero López
Attendance:
22,384

Match Stats

Home TeamLevanteAway TeamBarcelona
Possession
Home35%
Away65%
Shots
Home12
Away18
Shots on Target
Home7
Away7
Corners
Home3
Away8
Fouls
Home18
Away12

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Levante 5, Barcelona 4.

  2. Booking

    Jordi Alba (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

  3. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Levante 5, Barcelona 4.

  4. Booking

    Yerry Mina (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Yerry Mina (Barcelona).

  6. Post update

    Giampaolo Pazzini (Levante) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  7. Booking

    Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Gerard Piqué (Barcelona).

  9. Post update

    Rober Pier (Levante) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Booking

    Giampaolo Pazzini (Levante) is shown the yellow card.

  11. Post update

    Jordi Alba (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  12. Post update

    Foul by Giampaolo Pazzini (Levante).

  13. Post update

    Attempt missed. Rubén Rochina (Levante) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.

  14. Booking

    Denis Suárez (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

  15. Booking

    Luis Suárez (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.

  16. Booking

    Jefferson Lerma (Levante) is shown the yellow card.

  17. Post update

    Offside, Levante. Rubén Rochina tries a through ball, but Enis Bardhi is caught offside.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Levante. Rubén Rochina replaces José Luis Morales.

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Coutinho (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Rober Pier.

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

135 comments

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Sunday 13th May 2018

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Barcelona37279198296990
2Atl Madrid37239556203678
3Real Madrid37229692425075
4Valencia37217963372670
5Villarreal37186135548760
6Real Betis37186135858060
7Sevilla37167144858-1055
8Getafe371410134133852
9Eibar37148154248-650
10Real Sociedad37147166658849
11Girona37139154858-1048
12Alavés37152204049-947
13Celta Vigo371210155558-346
14Espanyol371113133542-746
15Levante371113134254-1246
16Ath Bilbao371013144148-743
17Leganés37117193149-1840
18Dep La Coruña37611203774-3729
19Las Palmas3757252372-4922
20Malaga3755272460-3620
View full Spanish La Liga table

Elsewhere on the BBC