3–0 up three minutes into the second half, FC Barcelona let Levante UD back to 3–2 before Adeyemi's run in stoppage time settles it.
The numbers
| FC Barcelona | Levante UD | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 75% | 25% |
| Shots | 12 | 13 |
| xG | 2.58 | 2.42 |
| Touches in opp. box | 33 | 27 |
Result the chances deserved: FC Barcelona 44% / 18% / Levante UD 38% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Joan García, Eric García, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Espart, Rodri, Fermín, Pedri, Yamal, Raphinha, Gordon.
Levante UD (4-4-2): Ryan, Toljan, De la Fuente, Mandi, Manu Sánchez, Víctor García, Sotelo, Olasagasti, Brugué, Requena, Ratkov.
Levante subs: Bardeli, Oriol Rey & Iván Romero (59'-60', Olasagasti, Sotelo & Ratkov), Ndukwe & Nacho Pérez (71', De la Fuente & Manu Sánchez). Levante head coach: Luís Castro.
Line-ups, goal minutes, assists, xG, shots, possession and box touches: FotMob. Sub minutes: EFE; who went off: VAVEL. Shots on target and corners were not published by the sources we could open. VAVEL also lists two goals ruled out for offside: Raphinha (22') and Toljan (38').
Key moments, move by move
- FC Barcelona work the ball to Raphinha around the edge of the box.
- He lays it back to Espart, arriving from left-back into a central space.
- Espart hits it low with his right foot and a slight deflection takes it past Ryan. EFE calls it a scuffed shot after a scramble; the other reports describe a clean strike.
- De la Fuente tries to clear and gives the ball straight to Raphinha (EFE).
- Raphinha takes it round Ryan towards the byline.
- He squares it and Yamal finishes from close range.
- Yamal runs at Mandi inside the box.
- Mandi brings him down: penalty.
- Yamal sends Ryan the wrong way.
- Espart, who had cramp and had asked to come off, tries to pass inside to Christensen.
- Substitute Iván Romero reads it and intercepts.
- He goes round Joan García and rolls it into the empty net.
- Levante UD win the ball off Bernal in midfield (VAVEL).
- Brugué drives through several challenges into the box.
- Joan García saves his first shot, but Brugué scores the rebound.
- Bernal gives Adeyemi the ball near halfway on the left.
- Adeyemi runs straight at the Levante UD defence.
- He gets past Mandi (IBTimes describes a backheel).
- He goes round Ryan and finishes to end the comeback.
Three goals up, then the ball kept coming back
- The first hour was FC Barcelona's. They had 75% of the ball (FotMob), Rodri and Pedri ran midfield (EFE), and Espart and Yamal made it 2–0 by the 19th minute. Levante UD's first real chance, a Toljan header, was ruled out for offside (VAVEL).
- Luís Castro changed the game at the hour. Iván Romero, Oriol Rey and Bardeli came on, and EFE says Levante UD went more direct. They finished with more shots (13 to 12) and 27 touches in the FC Barcelona box, and a final xG of 2.42 to 2.58. Castro: "we shot more, we had more clear chances."
- Both goals were given away in FC Barcelona's half. Espart's pass to Christensen was cut out by Romero; Bernal lost the ball before Brugué's goal. Flick blamed himself for the first (Espart had cramp and asked to come off), and listed the fixes as "positioning, passing, connections". The animation shows the pattern.
- Rotation had a cost. Yamal, Pedri and Gordon came off at 66'-67' with Racing de Santander three days later. The team that finished had less of the passing that kept Levante UD pinned back, though one of the subs, Adeyemi, then scored the goal that settled it.
Recreate it in FM26
Flick's 4-3-3, and how to protect a 3–0 lead
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Joan García | Sweeper Keeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | Eric García | Inside Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Cubarsí | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LCB | Gerard Martín | Centre-Back | Centre-Back |
| LB | Espart | Inverted Full-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| DM | Rodri | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder |
| RCM | Fermín | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Central Midfielder |
| LCM | Pedri | Midfield Playmaker | Central Midfielder |
| RW | Yamal | Inside Winger | Inside Outlet Winger |
| LW | Gordon | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| ST | Raphinha | Channel Forward | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Build-Up StrategyPlay Through Press
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Attacking TransitionPatient Build-Up
- Attacking WidthWider
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive LineMuch Higher
- Defensive Line BehaviourOffside Trap
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Espart steps inside from left-back (that is how he scored) and Pedri and Rodri keep the ball in short passes. Once you are ahead, switch Tempo to Lower and Line of Engagement to Mid Block: Flick's own lesson was that FC Barcelona had to be calmer at 3–0.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 shows fatigue as lower condition, not as one tired pass like Espart's that is cut out.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Mid block, Cancelo on at 70' not 80' (for Espart), Pedri kept on until 80' (Bernal later). Once it was 3–0, drop into a mid block, take the tired Espart off in time and keep Pedri on to hold the ball. FC Barcelona score a little less, but the two goals Levante UD got from turnovers probably don't happen. It moves FC Barcelona's win chance from 44% to 56% (xG 2.58–2.42 becomes 2.33–1.52). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer FC Barcelona needed
João Cancelo
Espart had cramp and had asked to come off, but Flick decided to wait for a stoppage. In that window Espart's pass inside was intercepted and Romero scored. Cancelo was the obvious like-for-like change: an experienced full-back who keeps the ball under pressure, ten minutes earlier.
Declan Rice
After the hour Levante UD went direct and fed off balls lost in FC Barcelona's half. Both their goals started that way. Rice wins duels and second balls, covers ground on both sides of Rodri and keeps passes safe when the team is tired, which is what the last 30 minutes needed.
What the analysts said
“It was not our best game. We had a great start, but then in the second half we struggled a little bit.”Hansi Flick (Goal / Yardbarker)
“The first goal was my fault because we wanted to make a change, but I said to wait until the next break.”Hansi Flick (Goal / Yardbarker)
“We have to be calmer at 3-0. … To survive this game helps us to improve.”Hansi Flick (Goal / Yardbarker)
“Errors are natural and they made them too. We shot more, we had more clear chances, we took more shots…”Luís Castro, Levante coach (EFE via Infobae, translated from Spanish)
2.58 xG to 2.42: a 3–0 game that nearly got away in half an hour.
After 48 minutes FC Barcelona led 3–0 with 75% of the ball, and the game looked over. It finished at 2.58 xG to 2.42, with Levante UD taking more shots, 13 to 12 (FotMob). That is the most xG any opponent has had against Barça this season. Most of Levante's came after Luís Castro's triple change at the hour, when EFE says they went more direct.
Both Levante UD goals came from FC Barcelona losing the ball in their own half. Espart, tired and cramping, tried a pass inside that Romero intercepted. Flick said that one was on him, because he had decided to wait for a break in play before taking Espart off. Nine minutes later Bernal lost the ball and Brugué scored. By then Yamal, Pedri and Gordon had gone off. Our reading is that the team on the pitch had fewer players who could keep the ball under pressure, which fits Flick's list of "positioning, passing, connections".
This is the other side of rotating. Racing de Santander were three days away and Sevilla FC three days after that, so resting the starters made sense. But FC Barcelona's control depends on Pedri and Yamal keeping the ball in tight spaces. Without them, a 3–0 lead became a scramble, and Adeyemi's solo goal in stoppage time rescued it.