Yamal 9.5, Raphinha 8.5 | FC Barcelona 4-2 Levante: Player ratings | OneFootball

FC Barcelona travelled to Valencia to face Levante in their 5th La Liga game of the campaign, hoping to maintain their perfect record.

The Catalan club had scored 5 goals in all but one of their games across all competitions. They started the game along expected lines, scoring 2 goals in no time to set the tone.

Levante went on to score 2 goals in the second half to make it 4-2 on the night. Despite it not being a vintage performance from Flick’s Barca, they did enough to get the three points.

Starting XI

Joan Garcia: 7.0/10

2 saves in the first half to keep Barca’s clean sheet intact. Occasionally called into action and made important saves to keep his team on top. Could do nothing about the goal though, after being sold short by Espart. Should have done much better in the second half.

Eric Garcia: 7.0/10

Eric had a decent game but not spectacular. He uncharacteristically misplaced a few passes but looked solid defensively for the most part.

Pau Cubarsi: 8.5/10

Pau Cubarsi was arguably Barca’s best defender on the night, and it was yet another game where he hardly put a foot wrong. La Masia heritage.

Gerard Martin: 3.0/10

Looked out of sorts in the first 45, and was booked for a late challenge. Hooked at half-time after a disastrous performance.

Xavi Espart: 7.0/10

Is there anything Xavi Espart cannot do? He opened the scoring for Barca against Levante with a fortuitous attempt early in the game. Had a mostly solid game but also had some reality checks like the back pass that led to Levante’s goal.

Rodri: 8.0/10

Kept things tidy in midfield, kept the ball moving and showed more signs of settling in nicely into Hansi Flick’s team.

Pedri: 6.5/10

Uncharacteristic off day from the Canary Islander who struggled to influence the game like he usually does. Minor blip to an otherwise fantastic start to the season.

Lamine Yamal: 9.5/10

Had the easiest job in the world to score into the empty net after Raphinha put the ball on a platter for him. Won a penalty in the second half and dispatched it comfortably before being taken off around the hour mark.

Fermin Lopez: 6.0/10

An off-game from Fermin who failed to impose himself on the pitch like he would have liked. Nevertheless, a hard-working performance.

Anthony Gordon: 7.0/10

A quiet performance from the Englishman, with Levante managing to keep him quiet for the most part. Was taken off for Adeyemi.

Raphinha: 8.5/10

The Brazilian wanted a bit of variety and provided both assists in the first half to Xavi and Lamine. Heavily involved, although the goal-scoring streak came to an end.

Substitutes:

Marc Bernal: 6.0/10

Provided the assist for Adeyemi’s goal.

Karim Adeyemi: 7.5/10

Had a terrific, improvised effort that went over the bar. Subsequently, went on a solo run that gave Barca their 4th goal cushion

Dani Olmo: 6.5/10

Failed to influence the game like he would have liked after coming on.

Andreas Christensen: 8.0/10

Extremely solid after coming for Gerard Martin in the second half, and even made a goal-line clearance in the dying stages.