Barcelona, Spain (AP) — Barcelona fought back from a two-goal deficit, earning 3-2 at Levante on Saturday with a slow, own goal from the Spanish league hosts.
Defending Champion Barcelona After the newly promoted Levante rolled into a surprising two-goal lead at halftime, Pedri Gonzalez and Ferran Torres needed them to score early in the second half.
Lamin Yamal then curled the cross into a six-yard box and helped Levante’s Unai Elgezabal create a victory goal when he headed to his net.
Levante striker Ivan Romero was hit earlier from a 15-minute counterattack that began with the ball Yamal lost. Jose Luis Morales went 2-0 in first half injury time by converting the penalty after a video review called handball by Alejandro Valde when blocking Morales’ shot.
However, Pedri began his fight when he put Yamal’s pass out of the area on the 49th, picked his spot at the corner of the net and blowed it up with a shot from long distance.
A hit with woodworking in the first half, Ferran levelled 52nd when he dodged the marker and volleyed with Rafinha’s corner kick.
Barcelona then pushed onto the decider who helped Yamal find it shortly after the 90 minutes had finished.
Barcelona coach Hansifrique praised Pedri, saying he “changed the match.”
“The first goal we scored helped us a lot to gain confidence in the box, but it wasn’t easy to score three points until the end.”
Barcelona has won nine openers Mallorca 3-0 last weekend.
Rashford starts their first league
Rookie Marcus Rashford has since started his first league start at Barcelona. His loan has moved from Manchester United. As the left front for a flick. He was replaced by Daniormo at halftime. This is after the biggest threat arises from the intrusion of Pedri’s path in the middle and Yamal’s intrusion on the right.
“I think Marcus had some situations in the first half, where he showed how good he was and how he could help us, and that’s how we have to continue,” Frick said.
Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski played the first few minutes of the season as a late replacement after recovering from a muscle injury.
Atletico drops more points to start the season
Atletico Madrid came across his second straight game to start the season after wasting the lead in a 1-1 draw that promoted Elche.
Diego Simeone’s club has revamped their already deep team this summer, aiming for the title challenged Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, this is not the start the Argentine coach wanted as he only had one point so far.
Just like that 2-1 loss at Espanyol The previous weekend, Atletico’s defense failed to protect the lead against Elche, even with the support of home supporters.
Alexander Sollos, who started ahead with Julian Alvarez for Atletico, scored an eight-minute opener when he ran to a pass from defender David Hanco and looped through the angular strike house.
Sollos had the opportunity to double that, but Elche goalkeeper Mattias Dituro blocked the shot from inside the box.
Elche then surprised the Metropolitano with a quick accumulation of passing that culminated with assists from Germany’s Varera for striker Rafa Mir, who defeated Jan Oblak on the 15th.
Giuliano Simeone was able to get Atletico back forward before halftime, but instead made the mistake with a shot that hits the far post.
“We work hard to make the most of our players,” Simeone said. “Patience and work will bring you results, at least not to lose.
Elche, a modest club in southeastern Spain, fought back in the opening round of the game in a 1-1 draw with the real Betis.
Mallorca also scored in the second half in a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
