Barcelona Continues Streak Crushing Levante 5-0

Leo Messi celebrates with Ivan Rakitic Sunday, each scored a goal against Levante.
Photo: Miguel Ruiz - FCB

FC Barcelona continued their winning streak amid rain Sunday, battering Levante at home. The squad so far boasts a flawless season with 15 maximum points in La Liga, having yet to concede a goal, including winning their Champions League opening against APOEL 1-0. Any nerves fans may have had regarding Barça’s new Manager, Luis Enriquez, should be settling, if not disappearing all together.

At a pre-match press conference Saturday, posted by SB Nation, Enriguez stated he is cautioning his squad from entering matches overconfident. Even though they faced Levante, who so far is winless for the season, Enriquez added, “Every away game is tough, and Levante is no different. Our priority and objective is to be better than the team we’re playing against…remember this is a sport where two teams play, not just Barça.”

The line-up Sunday had Bravo in goal, with Pedro, Messi, and Neymar up front. Alba was the most effective in the defensive line, with Mascherano, Alves, and Mathieu alongside. The team dominated the pitch from the start but took until the 34th minute to open the scoreboard. The goal by Neymar has made him the lead scorer of the team so far. Not long after the game’s second goal by Ivan Rakitic, Levante’s Loukas Vyntra was given a red card by fouling Messi, leaving them further exposed.

Neymar suffered a minor ankle injury, staying down long enough to have him pulled from the game. He was up and walking soon after and not very happy by the decision. Seems Enriquez is playing it safe, trying to maintain his players for several important games coming up.

Sandro Ramirez came in as a substitute and not long after, an assist by Messi lead him to score their third goal. Later on Messi scored a fourth, followed by Pedro with their final goal to win the game.

It seems Barça can do no wrong, which should be concerning to upcoming opponents considering Luis Suarez has yet to play. Suarez, the top goal-scorer in the Premier League last season, continues his suspension until later next month.

While Enriquez is very happy with how his players have done thus far, he maintains there remains room for improvement. “I will say the new players that have come have caught the ideas very, very quickly.” He has been criticized for playing B-team players before some A-team players who are waiting for minutes on the pitch.

“I know that we have a lot of games in very few days and I need to know how I’m going to manage my squad for that time.” He continued, “This is a journey that is always evolving. I think there are certain aspects of the game that we haven’t even been able to work on yet really. There are only so many things you can do in the time I have been at the club.” Seems to be working, as fans can be heard chanting Enriquez name at Camp Nao.

"We just have to go out there and compete as hard and as well as we possibly can." He concluded, "This is going to be evolving from here on. Judgment day is at the end of the season. And that’s when you can judge yourself on the level of our performances.” Next game is Wednesday in La Liga against Málaga.