Levante v Barcelona: La Liga – as it happened
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2014/sep/21/levante-v-barcelona-la-liga-live Version 0 of 1. 9.49pm BST21:49 Full-time: Levante 0-5 Barcelona Well, that was quite the mismatch. Barcelona have won all their games, have yet to concede a goal and they’re back top of the league. Wasn’t quite the 8-2 tanning Real Madrid handed out to Deportivo on Saturday, but a decent score all round. That’s it from here, cheers for reading. 9.47pm BST21:47 90 + 1 mins: Messi runs across the edge of the area and tries a scoop to nobody. In fairness, it succeeds. Updated at 9.47pm BST 9.46pm BST21:46 90 mins: Bill Oddie is a Manchester United fan. That’s a statement, not a Half Man Half Biscuit song... Great attack. Dodgy defence. Just like the old days! Di Maria fab goal, Falcao's volley also. Worst ref's penalty cock up ever. Wasn't dull. 9.45pm BST21:45 89 mins: The TV director seems pretty bored with this game now and is just showing slow motion clips of the ball skipping across the turf and throwing up spray from the rain. 9.43pm BST21:43 86 mins: Another injury now - Sandro gets a stamp on his foot. As an aside, he looks rather older than the stated 19 years... 9.40pm BST21:40 82 mins: Scratch that about Alba - he’s back on, although obviously injured, and will limp through the last few minutes in the middle of defence with Mathieu on the left. Seems strange: Barça have made their three changes, but why keep Alba on if he’s obviously hurt, they’re 5-0 up and playing ten men anyway? 9.38pm BST21:38 81 mins: Close, close, close to number six. Xavi dinks a delightful ball over the top where Mathieu heads it back across goal from the far post, but it just drifts wide with Pedro loitering. 9.37pm BST21:37 80 mins: Alba appears not to have come back on, so we can probably assume it was an injury, rather than a footwear issue, so for the last ten minutes it will be 10 v 10. 9.34pm BST21:34 77 mins: Abysmal, slapstick stuff from Jesus, who goes to throw the ball out, changes his mind halfway through but still manages to chuck it at the feed of Messi. He spins round a bit to make some space, assesses his options then dinks a delicious right-footed chip over the gawping keeper and into the net. 9.33pm BST21:33 GOAL! Levante 0-5 Barcelona (Messi 77) A clusterfudge and no mistake. 9.31pm BST21:31 75 mins: Alba is off either having something done to his foot or something done to his boot. That’s all that’s happening at the moment. 9.28pm BST21:28 72 mins: Ouch. #Levante haven't scored a Liga goal since May 10 9.27pm BST21:27 71 mins: More subs here - Sergio Roberto comes on for Iniesta, while Levante’s change sees Barral go off and Rubén Garcia come on. 9.25pm BST21:25 69 mins: Messi bursts into the box, but his halted by the vast frame of Simao, but no penalty is given. And, to be fair, Messi didn’t claim one. So everyone’s happy. 9.25pm BST21:25 68 mins: Levante have what just about passes for a chance, as Victor shoots from distance. He shoots wide. A long way wide. 9.23pm BST21:23 67 mins: Horrendous scenes. Some Levante fan has brought an umbrella to the game. Can you imagine the horror 9.22pm BST21:22 66 mins: A very annoying collection of children are chanting ‘Levante....Levante’ in an extraordinarily drony manner. Knock that on the head at once, kids. 9.21pm BST21:21 64 mins: Nicely worked again from Barça. Sandro flicks nicely to Alba who gets to the byline, draws the keeper and cuts back to Pedro, who slides into the open net. 9.20pm BST21:20 GOAL! Levante 0-4 Barcelona (Pedro 64) And another! 9.19pm BST21:19 62 mins: Changes for both teams - Diop (more on him shortly) comes off and is replaced by Momo Sissoko, who remarkably is still only 29, while Xavi replaces Sergio Busquets. On Diop, Windy quite rightly points out: “Wrong Diop. Are you being serious when you mention the old wardrobe? He is a free agent now. This diop is a 28-year old who doesn’t hold as many clothes.” Sorry everyone. 9.17pm BST21:17 60 mins: Barca buzz forwards but Dani Alves plays a low cross to nobody in particular. Could be a lot of that, from this point on. 9.15pm BST21:15 58 mins: Change for Levante - Morales goes off, replaced by Andreas Ivanschitz. 9.14pm BST21:14 57 mins: Busquets slips the ball through to Messi, who squares neatly to Sandro who exploits the inevitable space left by the man advantage, and neatly side-foots into the corner of the net from the edge of the area. Nice, neat goal. 9.13pm BST21:13 GOAL! Levante 0-3 Barcelona (Sandro 57) Well that was obviously going to happen after I said that. 9.13pm BST21:13 56 mins: The red card and the goal just before half-time seems to have knocked the jazz out of this game a bit. Rakitic crosses aimlessly, Jesus saves. 9.11pm BST21:11 55 mins: Said free kick goes straight into the wall from Diop, then Alba goes down after receiving a blow from either Simao’s head or elbow on his own bonce. 9.10pm BST21:10 54 mins: Spray update: the referee has retrieved his aerosol, and has marked out the ten yards for a free kick after Pedro rather clumsily handles on the edge of the area. 9.09pm BST21:09 53 mins: All getting a bit lackadaisical now. Rakitic gives the ball away which leads to a dangerous cross from the right, which Mathieu puts behind for a corner. 9.07pm BST21:07 51 mins: And there is that change - young striker Sandro comes on for Neymar. Looked like the Brazilian landed rather heavily on his back, so understandably Luis Enrique is exercising caution, although the player himself seems to think he can carry on. 9.05pm BST21:05 49 mins: Doesn’t look great for Neymar, this. A shame, because he was excellent in the first half. 9.05pm BST21:05 48 mins: Neymar has gone down in a bit of a heap just off the pitch on the Barça left, but as he isn’t on the playing area it would be a waste of time to kick the ball out. They’re thus knocking it around in the manner of West Germany v Austria 1982. 9.03pm BST21:03 47 mins: Iniesta tries a shot from the left side of the area. It sails wide. 9.02pm BST21:02 46 mins: And the second half is underway. It’s still raining. The stands aren’t particularly full after the break. 9.00pm BST21:00 Perhaps a smidge hyperbolic, but he’s good, that’s for sure... @NickMiller79 Ivan Rakitic just might be the difference between FCB winning the CL & La Liga or ending up trophy less 2 years in a row! 8.59pm BST20:59 Holy balls... The Basque Government promotes jai alai as “the fastest sport in the world” because of the ball speed. The sport once held the world record for ball speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at 302 km/h (188 mph), performed by José Ramón Areitio at the Newport Jai Alai, Rhode Island, until it was broken by Canadian 5-time long drive champion Jason Zuback on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of 328 km/h (204 mph). 8.56pm BST20:56 This is jai alai, since nobody asked. The winner is the first to pierce their opponents’ skull with the projectile. Possibly. 8.49pm BST20:49 Messi's penalty record for Barcelona: - 54 taken - 43 converted - 11 missed (including tonight) 8.48pm BST20:48 Half-time: Levante 0-2 Barcelona Well, this could get ugly for the home side. Barcelona are two ahead, have missed a penalty and could be ahead by more. Could end up a jai alai score, this. 8.46pm BST20:46 44 mins: What a goal that is. A cross is half-headed away by Diop and falls to Rakitic, who powers onto it and hammers it with the force of Thor himself into the far corner of the net. Hint of a deflection, but that was unstoppable. 8.45pm BST20:45 GOAL! Levante 0-2 Barcelona (Rakitic 44) Woof. 8.44pm BST20:44 43 mins: Levante try to get back in the game as the rain falls down, but he’s brought down rather cynically by that lovely young man Busquets, and the Barça man gets a yellow card. 8.43pm BST20:43 Messi misses the penalty! Well well well. The Argentinean sinks to his knees after slicing the kick wide of the left-hand post. 8.43pm BST20:43 Red card - Vyntra It looked more like Tono who was the man take him down, but the red card is given to Vyntra. Seemed slightly harsh, that. 8.42pm BST20:42 Penalty to Barcelona Iniesta dinks the ball over the top to Messi, be brings it down on his thigh, checks back and in sandwiches by a couple of players. Penalty. 8.40pm BST20:40 39 mins: Barral jinks hither and thither on the left and dinks over the cross, which Mathieu sort of heads away, but Barça clear eventually. The ball breaks to Neymar who glides down the left, only for Morales to pull him down. A booking, for the Levante man. 8.37pm BST20:37 36 mins: Mascherano barges into the back of Barral, which the sprayless referee deems deserving of a yellow card, for some reason. Meanwhile, another stat... Continuing the theme of Barca's eight 2014/15 goals so far Messi has scored two and assisted five. Defo something going on... 8.36pm BST20:36 34 mins: Messi plays a delicious through-ball to Neymar, who runs beyond the defence, takes it round Jesus who gets a little touch on ball and indeed man, Neymar thinks about going down but composes himself and slots it home. Neymar’s been terrific so far. 8.35pm BST20:35 GOAL! Levante 0-1 Barcelona (Neymar 34) This, more from the player than the team, was coming. 8.34pm BST20:34 32 mins: Alves makes what looks like a purposeful run forwards, but then plays potentially the wettest pass of the season and Levante counter. They do so into the area, where Mathieu barges Morales over in the area, but it’s deemed a shoulder barge and play continues. 8.32pm BST20:32 30 mins: Meanwhile, back in England, a meeting of minds... This escalated quickly @jasoncundy05 @FrankMSinclair pic.twitter.com/EkY2urSBlm 8.30pm BST20:30 29 mins: Papa Bouba Diop, the old Wardrobe himself, tries a cross from deep on the right, but Mathieu is there to rather unconvincingly clear. Gerard Pique must be playing like a dog if the Frenchman is ahead of him in the pecking order at the moment. 8.29pm BST20:29 27 mins: Neymar looks in the mood tonight. He jinks down the left but is put on his rear by a rather robust challenge from Lopez. He looks dangerous, though. 8.27pm BST20:27 25 mins: Barça go close, with the closest they get to route one football. Mascherano spots a run from Neymar and plays a long pass over the defence, Jesus, not for the first time in history, has an issue with the cross and flaps at it, and Neymar gets his head to the ball but puts it wide. He runs into the net with a look of anguish on his pretty, youthful face. 8.26pm BST20:26 24 mins: Quick counter by Levante and they go close. Tono gambols down the left and whips over a cross for Barral in the middle, he dives and gets his head on the ball but it skims wide. 8.24pm BST20:24 22 mins: Naughty from Hector Rodas, as the big defender knees Neymar in the back, aiming for the injury that put him out of the World Cup. The Brazilian looks OK, though. 8.23pm BST20:23 21 mins: The Levante groundsman, shrewdie that he is, has spotted that Barça like to pass the thing around, so has left the grass longer than on the Barnstone Colts pitch your fearless correpondent played on as a laddie. 8.21pm BST20:21 20 mins: Another good chance for Barça - they shift the ball rapidly across the edge of the box in that Barça way, Messi feeds Neymar to the left of goal but his low shot is blocked rather easily by the onrushing Jesus Fernandez. 8.19pm BST20:19 18 mins: Spray update: the ref is done with it and has just chucked it off the pitch. His shirt was untucked for a bit too. The falling standards these days are going to get us all sent to hell. 8.18pm BST20:18 16 mins: Great chance wasted for Barca - Alba is played in on the left side of the box, and has the choice between shooting and sliding a low square ball to Pedro, who waits in front of an open goal. He chooses mystery option number three and hammers the thing in front of Pedro but wide of goal, everyone looks a bit baffled and the ball dribbles out near the corner flag. 8.16pm BST20:16 15 mins: The ref’s dropped his spray again. Will the banter never end! 8.16pm BST20:16 14 mins: The spooked Mathieu makes another balls of things, lunging into a challenge on Morales when there was no need to, and the Levante man hurdles it with some ease. He streaks down the right and crosses low looking for Victor, but Rakitic just gets there at the far post and puts it behind for a corner. Updated at 8.18pm BST 8.14pm BST20:14 13 mins: It’s now raining in Valencia, making the rather lightly-roofed stadium an unpleasant place to be. Out come the umbrellas, the height of bad manners at a sporting or entertainment event, and the novelty ponchoes. @NickMiller79 @guardian_sport I hope you're OK. I just switched over and Barca's kit immediately gave me a headache. It’s a struggle chief, but I’m soldiering on. 8.12pm BST20:12 11 mins: Jordi’s been busy. Jordi Alba forward to put in three crosses from near goal-line already in first 7 minutes. 8.11pm BST20:11 10 mins: Mathieu, possibly terrified about being chased by Jason Bourne, gets himself into a right bit of mither with a very heavy touch and Morales dispossesses him. Jordi Alba has to zip across to mop up the danger. 8.09pm BST20:09 6 mins: Dani Alves is wearing a pair of those blacked-out boots that all the cool kids have these days. This is the most notable thing to have occurred so far. Apart from the Mathieu/Bourne thing, obviously. Apparently Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass are coming back to do another Bourne film after the surprisingly not terrible but commercially unsuccessful installment featuring Jeremy Renner. 8.05pm BST20:05 4 mins: Japes as the referee drops his disappearing spray, then has problems reattaching it to his waistband. We laughed long, and we laughed loud. 8.04pm BST20:04 2 mins: First chance falls to Mathieu at the far post, after a knock-back from Dani Alves, but the defender can only stab the ball wide. Mathieu looks a bit like a nameless henchman in one of the Bourne films that our amnesiac hero disposes of in an efficient yet grisly manner. 8.02pm BST20:02 1 min: For those of you that remain, we’re off. 8.01pm BST20:01 In contrast, Luis Enrique is wearing a nicely-pressed, crisp white shirt. As is Levante boss Jose Luis Mendilibar, although his is a slightly looser fit. The game is about to start, so these sartorial updates will cease shortly. Although one assumes I’ve already lost a good few readers. 7.59pm BST19:59 The players are in the tunnel, and Barça are wearing their away kit which is something of a test for the contrast on TVs across the world. The closest comparison is to a well-chewed bit of bubblegum. 7.56pm BST19:56 0 - @FCBarcelona have kept three successive league clean sheets for the first time since the 93/94 campaign. Security. 7.51pm BST19:51 Elsewhere in La Liga, Sevilla have just beaten Cordoba 3-1 to go top of the table, if only for a couple of hours, but with three points here Barça can bravely usurp them once more. 7.35pm BST19:35 Here’s a wee video preview of today’s game, featuring Luis Enrique. Yes, that is a picture of Gareth Bale, but that’s just to keep ye on your toes. 7.33pm BST19:33 Whatever happens in this game, is it going to be as lovely as Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi celebrating a goal today by giving his nan a big hug? Probably not. 7.16pm BST19:16 Team news Levante Jesus; Pedro Lopez, Vyntra, Rodas, Tono; Mate, Diop, Camarasa; Víctor, Barral, Morales. Subs: Marino, El Zhar, Garcia, Xumetra, Perez, Ivanschitz, Sissoko. Barcelona Bravo; Alves, Mascherano, Mathieu, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Pedro, Neymar, Messi. Subs: Ter Stegen, Montoya, Piqué, Xavi, Sergi Roberto, Sandro, Munir. Updated at 7.48pm BST 7.00pm BST19:00 Preamble As well as being mes que un club, Barcelona like to think of themselves as being mes que un average football team. They’re mes que that. They’re mes que just some boring old set of players who churn out wins and win titles, but rather they’re supposed to be a side who entertain, who get the blood flowing, who are pleasurable to watch. Of course that is a subjective thing, and many were bored by the whole tiki taka thing, which is fair enough – there are only so many times you can watch Xavi and Iniesta ping implausibly precise five-yard passes to each other before you want something a little more gutsy. Barca haven’t been particularly entertaining so far this season, mind. They have instead taken the role of the steady accumulator, the efficient points-gatherer, the win without much fuss team. That’s not mes que an awful lot. They have played four games so far this season, three in La Liga and one in the Champions League, have won them all but have scored just the seven goals in the process, conceding none. That is, without question, a good record, but not a particularly exciting one, and the atmosphere at the Nou Camp/Camp Nou (and by the way, more clubs should just not bother to think of a name for their ground, and eventually simply go with the working title – Tottenham should seriously consider ‘The Naming Rights Stadium’ for their new home) which for some time has been that of a theatre audience, 70,000 people showing up to be entertained, and sitting back with their opera glasses waiting until that happens, is getting worse. That’s why if you’re going to watch Barcelona, watch them when they play away from home, when the host crowd are a little more antagonistic, a little spicier. There’s a little more blood in these games, a bit more aggro, thus making things much more fun for all concerned. Levante haven’t exactly been whooping it up this season, having gathered just one point from their three games thus far, but they’re in an entertaining illogically confident mood ahead of this one. “I’m convinced we’re going to make it difficult,” Levante head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar said this week. “We want to win. I want to win and the players feel comfortable. It may be time to look at things more optimistically.” That’s the spirit, Jose. A bit of positivity. That’s the way to get through this crazy life. Nobody wants a doomy Debbie Downer. Let’s see if that optimism is stupidly misguided, shall we? 7.00pm BST19:00 Nick will be here shortly. |