La Liga
Feb 15, 2015 4.00pm
5
0
HT : 2 0
FT
  • Neymar 17' goal
  • Lionel Messi 38' goal
  • Lionel Messi 59' goal
  • Lionel Messi 65' goal
  • Luis Suarez 73' goal
  • Sergio Busquets 77' yellowcard
  • yellowcard Ramis 64'
  • yellowcard David Barral 69'

Preview: Barcelona vs. Levante

Barcelona vs. Levante

Barcelona host Levante on Sunday afternoon boosted by the deficit to league leaders Real Madrid being reduced to one point last weekend.

After witnessing Real lose 4-0 at Atletico Madrid, Barca hit the goal trail once again with five goals away at Athletic Bilbao to close the gap on the Bernabeu outfit.

Coach Luis Enrique's side are the form team in Spain, with a narrow 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad at the turn of the year the only blot on their copybook in 2015.

Enrique made changes to his starting lineup for the Copa del Rey success over Villarreal, but he is likely to revert to the team that competed in La Liga last weekend.

The midfield trio of Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Xavi were all replaced in midweek, but along with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, they should find themselves starting the fixture on Sunday.

Levante make the trip to Camp Nou having finally broken their nine-game winless streak with victory over Malaga last weekend.

They did it in style too, hitting four goals past the seventh-placed side to register just their fourth success of the campaign.

The game at Ciutat de Valencia also saw striker David Barral hit his first La Liga goals since November 2, but two of his three strikes did come from the penalty spot.

Boss Lucas Alcaraz is likely to name an unchanged team, with Nabil El Zhar, Andreas Ivanschitz, Papakouli Diop and Mohamed Sissoko all sidelined through injury.

Barcelona:

Form in La Liga: LWWWWW Form in all competitions: WWWWWW

Possible starting lineup: Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Xavi; Messi, Suarez, Neymar

Levante:

Form in La Liga: LDLLLW Form in all competitions: DWLLLW

Possible starting lineup: Marino; Lopez, Navarro, Ramis, Tono; Simao, Camarasa; Morales, Barral, Xumetra, Uche

Sports Mole says: 4-0

Author photo

Written by

POLL
Who will win Sunday's match between Barcelona and Levante?
Barcelona 88%
Draw 4%
Levante 7%
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter

Get FREE daily news and in-depth previews for games from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football — straight to your inbox.

Subscribe