{"id":484528,"date":"2026-02-22T21:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484528\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T21:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:53:07","slug":"barcelona-3-0-levante-feb-22-2026-game-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484528\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona 3-0 Levante (Feb 22, 2026) Game Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frenkie de Jong’s first goal in over a year and a thunderbolt from Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez<\/a> helped put Barcelona<\/a> back on top of LaLiga as they brushed aside strugglers Levante<\/a> 3-0.<\/p>\n

Hansi Flick’s side needed a last-gasp winner to win the corresponding fixture at the start of the season but cruised to victory as they took advantage of Real Madrid<\/a>‘s defeat at Osasuna<\/a> to take a one-point lead at the summit.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back defeats by Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and Girona<\/a> had damaged Bar\u00e7a’s confidence but it came roaring back as Marc Bernal<\/a> kicked things off with a quickfire opener at the Nou Camp and De Jong netted for the first time since January 2025.<\/p>\n

Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez then came off the bench to add some stardust, crashing an unstoppable late effort into the top corner from nearly 25 yards.<\/p>\n

It was a lively start to the game, Carlos \u00c1lvarez<\/a> forcing an early save from Joan Garc\u00eda<\/a>, with Jules Kound\u00e9<\/a> heading over at the other end as the teams traded warning shots.<\/p>\n

It was Bar\u00e7a who made it count, though, carving their opponents open after just four minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Ferm\u00ednFerm\u00edn L\u00f3pez scored from 25 yards off the bench for Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Photo By Javier Borrego\/Europa Press via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A carefully-worked short corner went from right to left before Eric Garc\u00eda<\/a> collected Jo\u00e3o Cancelo<\/a>‘s clever pass and laid the ball on for Bernal.<\/p>\n

The midfielder nipped in front of his marker, stretched out a leg and finished first time.<\/p>\n

A buoyant Barcelona tried to double up quickly, Raphinha<\/a> unable to finish a couple of openings and Robert Lewandowksi shooting over the top.<\/p>\n

In response Jon Olasagasti broke the defensive line but failed to beat Garcia after linking well with Iv\u00e1n Romero<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the half-hour it was 2-0 to the hosts, with another silky move originating on the right. Lamine Yamal<\/a>, Bernal and Cancelo combined for the set-up, with De Jong stealing space to touch home the latter’s floated cross into the six-yard box.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands<\/a> international’s long barren streak dated back to last January, when he netted in a 7-1 thrashing of Valencia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Levante’s route back into the game narrowed further when Kareem Tunde<\/a> fired wide with their final chance before half time.<\/p>\n

Normal service resumed after the break, with half-chances for Cancelo and Garcia off corners and a pair of saves from Matt Ryan as Lewandowski and Dani Olmo<\/a> added to the barrage.<\/p>\n

With 25 minutes left, Flick showcased his squad depth with a triple change that brought L\u00f3pez, Ferran Torres<\/a> and the fit-again Pedri<\/a> into the fray.<\/p>\n

Levante also received a boost from the bench, with Paco Cort\u00e9s<\/a> adding some cutting edge in attack.<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez made his presence felt in exhilarating fashion as the game entered its final 10 minutes, unleashing a vicious left-footed effort that thundered into the top corner to leave Ryan grasping at fresh air.<\/p>\n

England<\/a> international Marcus Rashford<\/a> — who was back in the matchday squad after knee problems — remained on the bench with the result already secure as the hosts wrapped up a result that puts the pressure back on Real in the title race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frenkie de Jong’s first goal in over a year and a thunderbolt from Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez helped put Barcelona…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-484528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}