Segunda Division champions Levante will look to shock the reigning La Liga champions Barcelona when the two teams lock horns in the second gameweek of the 2025-26 campaign on Saturday night.
Barcelona, who already sit top of the La Liga table, opened their season with a 3-0 success over nine-man Mallorca, while Levante began life back in the top flight with a 2-1 defeat against Alaves.
Match preview
Levante are the reigning Segunda Division champions, securing a return to Spain's top flight due to their title success last term, and they are bidding to make it back-to-back seasons at this level for the first time since 2022.
Julian Calero's side will know that they are up against it this season, and their defeat to Alaves last time out was a disappointing one considering that the Basque outfit are likely to be among the teams also battling relegation.
The Frogs have only won six of their previous 45 matches against Barcelona, demonstrating the size of their task in this match, although their last meeting in April 2022 was a close one, with the Catalan giants winning 3-2.
Levante's last success over Barcelona came in November 2019, while they were also involved in a nine-goal thriller with the reigning champions in May 2018, running out 5-4 winners on home soil.
The Valencia outfit have been incredibly active during this summer's transfer window, with their biggest arrival in terms of a transfer fee proving to be Jon Ander Olasagasti from Real Sociedad.
Levante head coach Julian Calero on June 1, 2025
As for Barcelona, the reigning champions hardly needed to break a sweat in their opening match of the 2025-26 La Liga campaign against Mallorca, running out 3-0 winners in the away fixture.
Barcelona scored twice in the first 23 minutes through Raphinha and Ferran Torres, while Mallorca had two players sent off in the first period, so it was a very comfortable second period for Hansi Flick's side, who scored a third in the latter stages of the contest through Lamine Yamal.
The Catalan giants are already at the top of the La Liga table on three points, and it will take a huge effort for Real Madrid or any other team to stop them this season due to the quality in their squad.
Barcelona scored 102 league goals en route to winning the 2024-25 La Liga title, and they could beat that this term due to their firepower, with Marcus Rashford being added to the squad over the summer.
Flick's team did lose six times in the league last season, though, so there is room for improvement this term, and they will also certainly be targeting success in the Champions League, having been eliminated in the semi-finals last season.
Levante La Liga form:
L
Barcelona La Liga form:
W
Team News
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski on March 30, 2025
Levante will be without the services of Alfonso Pastor through injury, while Olasagasti, Kervin Arriaga, Goduine Koyalipou and Alan Matturro are all fitness doubts for this match.
Jeremy Toljan made his debut against Alaves last time out, and the 30-year-old, who found the back of the net in the season opener, is again set to be in the XI, with fellow new signing Manu Sanchez on the opposite side.
Roger Brugue scored 11 times during an impressive 2024-25 season, and he is also set to continue in the XI.
As for Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen remains unavailable for selection due to a back injury, but Robert Lewandowski has trained this week, so the striker should be involved in the squad.
A hamstring issue sidelined Lewandowski against Mallorca, and Flick will not want to take any chances when it comes to the Poland international's fitness, so he could potentially start on the bench.
Jules Kounde is expected to come into the side at right-back, but it might otherwise be the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Mallorca.
Fermin Lopez will be hoping to keep his spot over Dani Olmo, while Ferran Torres' goal against Mallorca should mean that he continues through the middle for the champions.
However, Wojciech Szczesny, Gerard Martin and Roony Bardghji have still not been registered.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Campos; Elgezabal, Fuente, Cabello; Toljan, Lozano, Rey, Sanchez; Martinez; Romero, Brugue
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Torres
SM words green background
We say: Levante 0-3 Barcelona
Barcelona are such a strong outfit, and we are finding it incredibly difficult to back Levante to pick up a positive result on Saturday; the Catalan team should be able to collect all three points in routine fashion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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