FC Barcelona went to halftime losing 2-0 against Levante. Beyond the controversial refereeing decisions that tipped the balance in favor of the locals, the Azulgrana team completed a very discreet first half in defense at the Ciutat de Valencia. Especially on the side of Alejandro Balde and Pau Cubarsí.
The 'Granotas' found it easy to generate danger on the left, attacking the spaces that the '3' usually leaves due to his projection in attack. In that sense, Pau felt for the first time the absence of Iñigo Martínez, who last season was in charge of covering the left side of a defense that was always advanced.
Hansi Flick keeps his lines almost entirely focused on attack for the entire 90 minutes, so any minimal error when trying to reduce space to activate the offside trap can be lethal. Not in vain, Levante completed 8 shots (5 on goal) despite having only 18% of ball possession on Saturday.
Difficult night for Pau Cubarsí: Iván Romero surpassed him with ease
The local team took the lead in the 15th minute thanks to a great goal scored by Iván Romero. The striker culminated a perfect counter-attack by the Valencian team after receiving a pass from Toljan inside the area.
After a notable initial control, the '9' used his technique to dribble inside, leaving Cubarsí standing before standing up and finishing in front of Joan García's exit. The '2' culé only won one of four ground duels, being dribbled past on a couple of occasions.
Although, as usual, he was secure in the exit (he completed 84 of 92 passes, 91%), the central defender from Estanyol found it difficult to impose his hierarchy within the area. The aerial game was his strength, completing 4 clearances, in addition to recovering 3 balls.
In the second half, Barça suffered fewer clear chances from Levante, but the risk of conceding another goal remained until the end. In the 82nd minute, Carlos Álvarez was very close to surprising the Azulgrana defense, but he was ahead by a couple of centimeters.
After a very quiet afternoon against Mallorca (0-3), the Azulgrana team once again showed a defensive fragility that forces them to depend on comebacks to add points. " We have to talk, analyze. These matches serve to improve and know where we want to go. A season is a long road," argued Flick in the post-match press conference.
The Araujo-Cubarsí partnership needs more playing time
In that context, one of the areas that still demands specific work is the center of the defense. Ronald Araujo, although he has looked secure in his first two matches of the 25/26 season, still needs to fine-tune his partnership with Pau Cubarsí.
The kid seems to play better on the right, so the '4', thanks to his hierarchy and experience, must be more attentive to give him a hand in the retreats.
Against Rayo, Barça may find a similar scenario to the match against Levante: a rival totally retreated in their own half, with speed in the transitions to do damage on the counter-attack.
The last matches against the Madrid team have been difficult (1-2, 1-0), with the Vallecas team also being a team that defends much better than the 'Granota' team.
Thus, there is still much work to be done in defense, where Eric García seems to have 'stolen' the position from Jules Koundé and, for now, Balde remains firm in the face of the non-registration of Gerard Martín. Will the coach keep his defense intact for matchday 3 of La Liga?