Xavi’s Barcelona emerge triumphant despite conceding three penalties

Heading into Sunday’s meeting against Levante, Barcelona had strung together a 14-game unbeaten run in La Liga,

While the odds were stacked in favour of Xavi Hernandez’s men ahead of the game, they made a poor start and an error from Dani Alves almost gifted Jose Luis Morales a goal within a minute after kickoff.

Levante, despite being embroiled in the relegation battle, took the game to their illustrious opponents, with Morales, in particular, causing all sorts of problems. The striker forced a fine save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and then saw a shot get cleared off the line by Eric Garcia.

Meanwhile, Barça struggled to create any meaningful chances in the first half, finishing with an xG of just 0.16 – their worst in the first period of all La Liga matches this term.

Things got much worse for Xavi’s men in the second half. After Ferran Torres had a shot saved, Levante were awarded a penalty by referee Munuera Montero as Dani Alves fouled Son inside the box. Up stepped Morales and dispatched the spot-kick, getting the goal that he had so deserved.

It looked like the game would soon get out of Barcelona’s hands as they conceded yet another penalty minutes after the first goal, Eric Garcia being the guilty party this time out, as he handled a ball that was headed towards the goal.

But, ter Stegen saved his team’s skins by stopping Roger Marti from the spot. And that moment, coupled with intelligent substitutions from the manager, seemed to have lit a spark in the visiting side.

Barcelona were back on level terms in the 59th minute, courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang header, with the striker diverting a fine cross from Ousmane Dembele into the net.

Minutes later substitutes Gavi and Pedri combined for the latter to find the back of the net and put the Catalan giants in the lead. And just like that, Xavi’s men, having been on the back-foot and conceded two penalties, were back on top.

But the drama would not stop there. While two of Xavi’s substitutes had helped the team take the lead, another sub, Clement Lenglet, handed Levante a way back in with a clumsy foul on Dani Gomez, leaving the referee with no choice but to award another penalty against Barça.

Gonzalo Melero, a third-different penalty taker, stepped up for Levante and made no mistake, restoring parity again, in the 83rd minute. But, Barça were not one to give up. Apart from playing attractive football on the pitch, Xavi has also instilled a strong mentality within this group.

And, it showed on the pitch as they threw everything at their hosts in search of a winner, which eventually came via a Luuk de Jong header two minutes into stoppage time.

Only last week, Barcelona’s arch-rivals, Real Madrid, needed three penalties to beat Celta Vigo 2-1. On Sunday, the Catalans were on the receiving end of three penalty calls – the first time that they have given away as many in a single game in the league history – and survived.

Not only did they survive, but the Blaugrana came out on top. By doing so, they extended their unbeaten run in La Liga to 15 games, picked up their seventh league win in a row and reclaimed the second spot in the standings.

Xavi is rebuilding this team block by block and on Sunday, they again sent out a clear message to their competitors – do not count Barcelona out until it is over.