Barcelona Vs Levante: Bernal, De Jong and Fermín seal 3-0 as Cancelo shines
In a match that restored Barcelona to the top of LaLiga, barcelona vs levante finished 3-0 at the Spotify Camp Nou as Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín scored, Joao Cancelo starred in his best outing since returning on loan, and the win sent Barça back to the summit four minutes after kickoff.
Fast start: Bernal puts Barça ahead in four minutes
Barcelona grabbed the lead early when Marc Bernal converted a chance created from the left after just four minutes, a move that gave Hansi Flick’s side the top spot in LaLiga almost immediately. The match opened even earlier with an 18-second moment when Carlos Álvarez found himself alone against Joan García but shot weakly under pressure from Eric García. At two minutes Koundé threatened, and at seven Ryan pulled off a key save from Raphinha that fell to Robert Lewandowski, who sent his chance over the bar.
How the goals came and the key moments
Bernal’s opener came from play that involved Eric García. The second arrived around the half hour when Frenkie de Jong ran in from deep to finish a measured cross from Joao Cancelo, and Fermín sealed the 3-0 victory with a left-foot strike from outside the area in the second half. Before halftime Lamine Yamal forced a chance that went narrowly wide and Levante’s Tunde had a long-range attempt that also threatened to change the game. Goalkeeper Ryan produced a late double save — first to deny a Raphinha header, then to repel a close-range effort from Fermín.
Cancelo’s return, MVP form and his comments
Joao Cancelo, the 31-year-old Portuguese who started on the left despite being right-footed, was chosen MVP after constant forward incursions. He helped originate Bernal’s 1-0 and provided the cross that De Jong converted for 2-0; he also hit the post on a chance that would have doubled the lead earlier. Cancelo, who is at the club on loan in this winter market, told Movistar LaLiga that this was his best match since returning, that he had been training well and felt the coach would put him back in the side, and that he considers himself "a fullback who attacks" while stressing the collective importance of the victory.
Levante’s mistakes and mounting crisis
Levante missed two clear chances at the start and paid the price; this was their fourth consecutive defeat. The visitors had a one-on-one chance when Joan García denied Olasagasti, but otherwise could not match Barcelona’s effectiveness. Marca described Levante as sinking in the table and noted that the visitors’ early openings — including the 18-second chance by Carlos Álvarez — proved to be an empty threat as Barça took control.
Statistics, streaks and broader context
Barcelona extended a remarkable scoring run: the club has now scored in its last 45 LaLiga matches, its best scoring streak in the competition since a 64-match run between the 4 del febrero del 2012 and the 5 del octubre del 2013. The win also touched on historical patterns: of the 22 occasions in which a team had 61 points after 25 matches in LaLiga, the title was won in 18 of them, and Barcelona had won each of its eight precedents in that situation. The match recap was filed by Santi Giménez.
Voices, milestones and an odd aside
Match coverage highlighted positives — Cancelo’s form, Bernal’s sharpness and the return of Pedri, who was back in the squad and came on after the hour mark. The reports include several quoted lines whose attribution is unclear in the provided context: "En esa jugada he visto el hueco y me ha salido un buen gol. Me da igual la izquierda que la derecha"; "De pequeño no podía tirar mucho porque era muy pequeñito. En Linares me insistieron mucho en eso y cuando volví lo tenía trabajado"; and "Hemos hecho autocrítica. Hoy hemos hecho un gran partido y esta es la línea a seguir". One media note added that "La perla culé ha alcanzado los 100 triunfos con 18 años" — unclear in the provided context which player that refers to. Off the pitch, Joan Laporta commented about Real Madrid in the wake of Pamplona with the line: “¿El Madrid? Para una vez que no les regalan un piscinazo... que no se quejen. ”
Barcelona’s immediate next focus, as stated in coverage, is the club’s Copa tie: the side will try to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the Metropolitano and attempt a cup comeback, while also building on the restored lead in LaLiga.
