Barcelona defeat Levante with thrilling comeback in La Liga

Barcelona fought back from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 at Levante with a late own-goal by the hosts in La Liga.

Defending champions Barcelona needed Pedri Gonzalez and Ferran Torres to score early in the second half to equalise after the newly promoted Levante had rolled to a surprise two-goal lead at halftime on Saturday.

Lamine Yamal then helped to produce the winning goal when he curled a cross into the 6-yard box, and Levante’s Unai Elgezabal headed into his own net.

Levante striker Ivan Romero earlier struck from a counterattack in the 15th minute that started with a ball lost by Yamal. Jose Luis Morales made it 2-0 in first-half injury time by converting a penalty after a video review called a handball by Alejandro Balde when he blocked Morales’s shot.

But Pedri started the fightback in the 49th when he received Yamal’s pass well outside the area, picked his spot in the corner of the net and blasted in a shot from long range.

Ferran, who had hit the woodwork in the first half, levelled in the 52nd when he fended off his marker and volleyed in Raphinha’s corner kick.

Barcelona then pressed for the decider, which Yamal helped find just after the 90 minutes were up.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Pedri for his goal, saying that “it changed the match”.

“The first goal we scored helped us a lot to get our confidence in the box, but until the end, it was not easy for us to get the three points.”