Barcelona maintained their perfect LaLiga record with a 4-2 victory away to Levante. Hansi Flick’s side raced into a three-goal lead but allowed the hosts to cut the deficit to one before Karim Adeyemi settled the contest in stoppage time.

RAPHINHA CREATES THE PERFECT START

Barcelona needed only five minutes to open the scoring. Raphinha broke through Levante’s defensive line with a pass to Xavi Espart, who finished into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Raphinha created the second goal as well. In the 19th minute, he rounded Mathew Ryan and pulled the ball back for Lamine Yamal, who converted from close range. Barça controlled possession, although Levante found enough openings to warn that the match was not entirely risk-free.

Gerard Martín was replaced by Andreas Christensen at half-time after suffering a blow to the face and a nosebleed during the opening period.

LAMINE COMPLETES HIS BRACE

Aïssa Mandi brought Lamine Yamal down inside the penalty area shortly after the restart. The winger took responsibility himself and converted the spot kick in the 48th minute to make it 3-0.

With the match seemingly under control, Flick made a triple change around the 66th minute. Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Anthony Gordon made way for Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal and Karim Adeyemi.

At that stage Barcelona appeared ready to manage the remaining minutes. Instead, they turned a comfortable afternoon into an unexpectedly tense finish.

LEVANTE PUNISH BARCELONA’S DROP IN INTENSITY

Iván Romero pulled one back from close range in the 79th minute. Roger Brugué then finished a fast break nine minutes later, cutting Barcelona’s lead to 3-2 and giving Levante genuine hope of an unlikely comeback.

The visitors finally secured the points in the third minute of stoppage time. Marc Bernal supplied Adeyemi, who finished from the centre of the box to complete the 4-2 victory.

THREE POINTS WITH A WARNING ATTACHED

Barcelona recorded 75 per cent possession and completed 711 passes at a 91 per cent success rate. Those figures underline their control, but Levante still registered seven shots on target to Barcelona’s six. The expected-goals totals were also close: 2.46 for Levante and 2.63 for Barça.

Flick’s team have won all five of their LaLiga matches and lead the table with 15 points. Lamine’s brace, Raphinha’s two assists and Adeyemi’s late impact provided the quality. Conceding twice after establishing a 3-0 lead supplied the warning Barcelona could have done without.