Barcelona journey to town of València on Saturday for his or her second La Liga match of the marketing campaign in opposition to final season’s Second Division champions Levante, in what can be Barça’s first go to to the Ciutat de València Stadium in three and a half years.
Barça haven’t precisely loved their away video games in opposition to Levante, successful simply two of their final six matches on the street in opposition to them. There’s the notorious 5-4 loss that ended their bid for an invincible season within the penultimate matchday of their La Liga marketing campaign in 2018, however their most up-to-date conflict was simply as wild, chaotic, and unforgettable.
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The date was April 10, 2022, and Xavi Hernández was six months into his job after taking up for Ronald Koeman mid-season. The previous midfield legend modified all the temper across the membership, made some key signings in January, and took Barça from ninth place in October to a second-place end and a historic 4-0 win in El Clásico.
The Catalans have been driving a six-game successful streak within the league and confronted a Levante workforce nearly assured of relegation, and everybody anticipated a straightforward night time. We obtained something however that.
Levante have been awarded not one, not two, however three penalties, one in every of which was saved by Marc-André ter Stegen, however scored twice from the spot to shock Barça. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pedri each discovered the web to even the sport at 2-2, and it seemed as if the Blaugrana’s successful streak was going to finish.
Then Luuk de Jong occurred: the tall Dutch striker, signed on Deadline Day of the earlier summer time window by Koeman in a transfer hated by each single Barça fan alive, had turn out to be an immediate people hero by turning into Xavi’s Tremendous Sub: every time Barça have been in bother on the street, De Jong would come off the bench with three minutes to go, rating a last-minute header and rescue an unimaginable win for the Catalans.
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And he did the identical on this night time, to present Barça all three factors and a badass pose for the cameras:
These of us who’re Barça followers and skilled day by day of the ache from 2020 to late 2021 know simply how huge these loopy, unimaginable wins within the early Xavi days have been, and we’ll really always remember what Luuk de Legend did for us.
The 2025 model of Barça doesn’t have to undergo all the identical drama on Saturday, however that night time in April 2022 ought to function a reminder of not solely how robust Levante might be at house, however of how far Barça have come.