Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Barcelona continued their 100% record at the start of the 2026-27 season, defeating Levante 4-2. Xavi Espart, Lamine Yamal (x2) and Karim Adeyemi got the goals for Hansi Flick’s side, who almost threw away a three-goal lead late on at the Ciudad de Valencia.
An error from Espart in the 79th minute brought the match back to 3-1, before Roger Brugue made it 3-2 in the 88th. Levante pushed hard for an unlikely equaliser, before Adeyemi struck in stoppage time to seal the three points for Barcelona, much to their relief.
After the match, Pau Cubarsi spoke to the media, and as per MD, he admitted that the victory had a slightly bittersweet feeling to it. He was disappointed with the errors that led to Levante’s fightback, and he insisted that big lessons can be taken from it.
“It was a match that we had on track. Because of two mistakes that we should have controlled, they got into the game. In these matches, any mistake is costly. We knew that it was difficult to win here and at 0-3, the game was not over. We have to be ready, pause and control the game. We have room for improvement by calming down the games.”
Cubarsi: Adeyemi goal saved us
Cubarsi admitted that he was very relieved when Adeyemi scored to make it 4-2 in the third minute of stoppage time, as he was not entirely sure that Barcelona would have been able to see out the match without conceding a third goal to Levante.
“We were able to calm the spirits, because the fans pressed a lot and Karim’s goal was perfect for us, it saved us a little. We have a very good dynamic, and we have to continue to improve.”
It is clear that Barcelona have things to work on defensively, although the bigger issue is that they failed to sign a new centre-back partner for Cubarsi during the summer transfer window.