Barcelona's title ambitions in tatters as stubborn Levante come from behind to snatch draw
Barcelona were all set to move to the top of the La Liga table by the end of Tuesday. However, 24 hours later, the Catalan giants are still trailing behind Atletico Madrid.
The title race is destined to go down to the wire, but Barcelona haven’t helped themselves much by dropping some very valuable points.
Last week, Ronald Koeman’s side were held to a goalless draw by Atletico Madrid in a game that was supposed to be a must-win.
On Tuesday, Lionel Messi and co. made a bright start against Levante but once again fluffed their lines by losing their lead twice to their less-fancy opponents.
Levante comeback dents Barcelona’s title chances
Barcelona were firmly in the race for La Liga, but their chances have gradually slipped away in the last two weeks.
Successive draws against Atletico Madrid and now Levante have dented the Blaugrana’s chances of winning the league.
Interestingly, Tuesday’s game was there for the taking, but Ronald Koeman’s men let themselves down. Having romped to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Pedri, Barcelona dozed off in the second half.
Quick-fire goals from Gonzalo Melero and Jose Luis Morales drew the away side level. Ousmane Dembele made it 3-2 in the 64th minute, and his goal appeared to have secured the win. However, a late strike from Sergio Leon restored parity for Levante.
Ronald Koeman’s management faces serious questions
Barcelona’s second-half performances have been terrible in recent weeks, culminating in a single win from their last four La Liga matches. And following yet another second-half collapse against Levante, it raises serious questions about Ronald Koeman’s management.
The Dutch manager himself admitted that his side weren’t good enough in the second half.
Koeman said during his post-match press conference, as quoted by Marca:
"Coaches are always questioned. But I understand that, after that second half, there are questions. We are disappointed and we're wondering what happened. We have to move on and prepare for next season."
"As a coach, you're always responsible. We spoke at half-time about improving defensively and not dropping our intensity. We were hopeful, we were 2-0 ahead. You don't expect to draw from there."
Barcelona’s chances of winning La Liga are not looking up at the moment, and perhaps Koeman could have done more to better manage the games in which they’ve dropped valuable points.