Barcelona Maintains Perfect Start Despite Levante Challenge

Barcelona are still flawless. The performance was anything but.

Hansi Flick’s side made it five wins from five with a 4-2 victory away to Levante, a scoreline that flatters the chaos that came before it. A brace from Lamine Yamal and goals from Xavi Espart and Karim Adeyemi dragged Barça over the line on a night when their attacking brilliance had to paper over some familiar defensive cracks.

It was open. Too open for Flick’s liking.

Flick: “The mistake was mine”

Barcelona’s back line looked vulnerable all evening, and Flick did not hide behind his players when assessing Levante’s first goal.

“We are happy because in the end we won 4-2. I think the goals we conceded came from mistakes we made, but for the first goal, I think the mistake was mine,” he admitted.

The turning point, in his eyes, came from a simple decision on the touchline. Xavi Espart was struggling.

“We wanted to substitute Xavi because he was having some cramps, and I said: ‘Okay, let’s wait until the next stoppage.’ Maybe if we had changed him at that moment, we would not have conceded that goal.”

That hesitation gave Levante the window they needed. They took it, and for a spell the game threatened to slip away from Barça’s control.

Record start, restless coach

The win means Flick has now matched Barcelona’s best-ever start to a season, with 21 goals scored in five matches. It sounds emphatic. He refuses to be seduced by the numbers.

“I am proud. I am proud of my team, and I am proud of the club. But in the end, this is only the beginning. I do not look too much at the numbers, because they also belong to the past.”

His pride is balanced by irritation at how easily Levante were allowed back into the contest. The pitch did not help, he said, nor did the pressure from the hosts.

“Yes, of course, but also the way we defend is important. Normally, they pressed us very well today. I also think the pitch was not in the best condition. So it was not an easy match.”

Asked if this was another reminder of what happens when the intensity drops, Flick did not sugar-coat it.

“If you do not give 100%, things like this happen.”

Barcelona still found four goals. They also found a warning.

Espart’s first Barça goal

On a night of wild swings, Xavi Espart delivered a personal milestone: his first senior goal for Barcelona.

Flick did not hold back in his assessment of the youngster’s all-round level.

“At the moment he is doing well. Technically he is good, tactically as well. And physically he is 100% ready and he is proving it. He is playing at a great level.”

Espart’s contribution went beyond the finish. He linked, pressed, and kept showing for the ball even as fatigue crept in. The cramps that almost forced him off before Levante’s first goal underlined how hard he had worked.

Adeyemi shows his edge

Karim Adeyemi came on to tilt the game back in Barça’s favour and did exactly that with a late strike that killed off the Levante fightback.

Flick sounded anything but shocked.

“No, I am not surprised, because when he is focused, he is a fantastic player. That is what he has to deliver.”

The fourth goal, in particular, lit up the night for the coach.

“Especially with the fourth goal, he was fantastic. In that situation you can see that he has something special.”

Adeyemi did what every impact substitute dreams of: arrived, stretched the game, and finished it. In a squad stacked with attacking options, moments like that matter.

Gordon’s graft, goals still missing

On the opposite flank, Anthony Gordon’s wait for a goal in Barça colours goes on.

Flick, though, was quick to defend the winger’s contribution between the boxes.

“I think Anthony gives us a lot, especially when he receives the ball. He is always able to control it and then pass it to one of our players, and therefore keep possession,” he said.

“Of course, as an attacker, when you have chances, you want to score. I hope he scores very soon, because that will also help him integrate completely. But I am happy with him, and I really appreciate what he gives us.”

Gordon has been an assist machine this season, but this was not his sharpest outing. His touch was not always clean, his decisions not always ruthless. Yet his manager clearly sees the value in his work, with or without goals.

And this is where Barcelona’s depth bites. When Gordon faded, Adeyemi arrived. When Espart cramped, others stepped up. Flick can rotate, adjust, and still throw on players capable of changing the game in an instant.

Five games, five wins, 21 goals. The numbers scream title form. The performance in Valencia whispered something else: can this Barcelona defend well enough when the real tests arrive?