Levante 2-3 Barcelona: Late Elgezabal own-goal completes second-half turnaround

Unai Elgezabal's late own-goal saw Barcelona complete a second-half comeback as they maintained their perfect start to their LaLiga title defence with a 3-2 win over Levante. 

Hansi Flick's team appeared set for their first league defeat against their opponents since 2019, but showcased their powers of recovery once again on Saturday. 

Levante stunned the LaLiga champions with just 15 minutes on the clock when Ivan Romero brilliantly shifted the ball onto his right foot before picking out the bottom-left corner. 

Barcelona came close to levelling the game eight minutes before half-time when Ferran Torres was found by Raphinha, but the Spaniard's effort cannoned against the crossbar. 

And Flick's side were made to pay for that miss in first-half stoppage time when Jose Luis Morales' goal-bound strike struck the arm of Alejandro Balde in the box. 

The penalty was eventually given following a lengthy VAR review, with Morales dusting himself down to comfortably dispatch the spot-kick beyond Joan Garcia's grasp. 

But two goals in three minutes shortly after the break saw Barcelona restore parity, with Pedri reducing the deficit in the 49th minute with a stunning finish from distance. 

Ferran Torres then turned home Raphinha's teasing delivery from a corner, but there was to be late drama at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia that went in the favour of the visitors. 

As the game ticked into the first of seven added minutes, Lamine Yamal's ball into the area was inadvertently turned into his own net by Elgezabal to complete the turnaround. 

Data Debrief: Comeback Kings

Most teams who find themselves two goals down at half-time would be consigned to defeat, but not this Barcelona team, who came back to win a LaLiga match after trailing 2-0 at the break for the first time this century (D1 L12). 

Indeed, the Blaugrana have also now won each of their last four matches in the top flight when trailing by two goals, coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid (4-2), Celta Vigo (4-3) and Real Madrid (4-3) in the 2024-25 campaign. 

And it was their star quality in the final third that shone, with Yamal attempting a game-high 20 dribbles, completing eight of those, while only Raphinha (four), Eric Garcia and Balde (both three) created more chances than the Spaniard (two).