Lamine Yamal scored twice as Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Levante in Valencia on Sunday.
Xavi Espart and Karim Adeyemi were also on target for Barcelona, who moved to the top of the La Liga table with five wins from five matches, three points ahead of Real Madrid.
Barcelona took the lead after five minutes when a slick one-touch move ended with 19-year-old Espart firing home from the edge of the box via a slight deflection for his first senior goal. The visitors continued to dominate possession and doubled their advantage in the 19th minute.
Raphinha expertly controlled Fermin Lopez’s through ball before picking out an unmarked Yamal in the centre of the box, with the winger making no mistake from close range.
Levante responded to Barcelona’s early dominance by applying pressure of their own. Although the hosts failed to create a clear-cut opportunity, they ended the first half with six attempts compared with Barcelona’s three.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick made a change at the break, replacing Gerard Martin with Andreas Christensen after Martin appeared to be struggling with an injury.
Barcelona then extended their lead 42 seconds into the second half after Aissa Mandi conceded a penalty for a foul on Yamal.
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The teenager calmly converted the spot kick to complete his third La Liga brace of the season and restore Barcelona’s control of the contest.
Levante came close to reducing the deficit in the 60th minute when Victor Garcia beat goalkeeper Joan Garcia, but a partial block from Pau Cubarsi and a goal-line clearance by Christensen combined to keep the effort out.
Levante eventually pulled one back in the 79th minute following an errant pass from Espart. Forward Ivan Romero rounded Joan Garcia before calmly passing the ball into the net.
Nine minutes later, Roger Brugue burst through several Barcelona challenges and reduced the deficit to one goal, setting up a tense finish.
However, Adeyemi ended Levante’s hopes of completing a comeback when he produced a mazy run before finishing smartly in the 93rd minute.
Despite the defeat, the home supporters applauded Levante’s fighting spirit, chanting “Levante” as Adeyemi celebrated his goal.
The victory gave Barcelona a sixth successive win in all competitions, with Rodri’s assured midfield display and captain Raphinha’s relentless running also contributing to the result.
Atletico Madrid also returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Real Sociedad. New signings Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David scored their first goals for the club before Giuliano Simeone completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Both sides struggled to create clear chances until Grimaldo converted an 84th-minute penalty. David doubled Atletico’s advantage six minutes later after finding space on the break. Simeone added a third in the 95th minute to complete the victory.
Atletico were without key players Julian Alvarez and Pablo Barrios, who missed the match due to muscle injuries. The victory ended Atletico’s run of two consecutive defeats.
Malaga rescued a 1-1 draw against Celta Vigo, who had dominated the encounter at Balaidos. Deportivo A Coruna also drew 1-1 with Getafe after conceding a second-half goal.
