Depay, Luuk de Jong and Ansu Fati finally make Barcelona cheer

Sunday, September 26, 2021 at 6:05 PM• Dominic Mostert

Barcelona have secured a much-needed win in LaLiga. After two consecutive draws, the superpower won 3-0 against Levante on Sunday through goals from Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong and Ansu Fati. Due to a suspension of Ronald Koeman, the team was led by assistants Henrik Larsson and Alfred Schreuder. As a substitute, Fati made a glorious comeback after an absence of 323 days due to injury. Thanks to the win, Barcelona climbs to fifth place, with twelve points from six matches.

The suspended Koeman lined up Depay and Luuk de Jong; Frenkie de Jong was out due to suspension, while the injured Sergi Roberto was replaced by Philippe Coutinho. In addition to Sergi Roberto, Ousmane Dembélé, Pedri, Martin Braithwaite, Sergio Aguero, Jordi Alba and Alex Balde were also missing due to injuries. Koeman chose to have Gavi, who turned seventeen last month, again appear at the starting signal; the midfielder made his basic debut in the midweek game with Cádiz (0-0). Nineteen-year-old Nico González surprisingly also got a starting place, his first at Barcelona.

For the first time since June 2003 (Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars against Valencia), two Dutchmen scored in the same Barcelona league match. Depay used a penalty, which he had earned himself. After gaining access to Levante’s penalty area with a deft move, Depay was tagged by Nemanja Radoja. He claimed the penalty himself and found the left corner. The match was then only six minutes old. Not much later, Sergiño Dest steamed up on the left wing and set Luuk de Jong free for keeper Aitor Fernández, after which the striker made no mistake.

In the remainder of the first half, Barcelona did not run into problems. The home side came close to scoring a few more times, for example when Gerard Pique failed to finish from close range or when a powerful header from Depay was narrowly parried by Fernández. Fellow goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was not seriously tested. Even after the break, Levante’s keeper prevented Depay from scoring his second goal of the game. Subsequently, Barcelona’s game had less urgency than before half-time. Levante nevertheless remained no serious threat. In an outbreak, Depay once again encountered Fernández, who also parried a long shot from Dest.

The sharpness diminished at Barcelona and that gave Alejandro Cantero a serious chance at the connection goal. Ter Stegen emerged as the winner from the one-on-one situation. The highlight of the second half for Barcelona was Fati’s return and his goal. He replaced Luuk de Jong in minute 81 and entered the field to loud applause. Fati returned to Barcelona after 323 days; he sustained his meniscus injury in a match against Real Betis. Fati was hoping for a penalty when he went down in a duel with Pablo Martinez in the penalty area, but the arbitration did not agree. In stoppage time, Fati, who underwent four operations in the past year, scored after a nice individual action with a shot from outside the penalty area. He thanked a club doctor.