In another game that mattered, another game that Barcelona won they would go top of the league, the Catalans again fail to take advantage.
Barcelona blew a 2-0 lead, and then a 3-2 lead, and had to settle for a 3-3- draw against Levante. A result that all but puts an end to their title aspirations.
The match was a microcosm of the clubs performances all season. In the first-half, the team was brilliant. Goals by Lionel Messi and Pedri put them up by two and Ronald Koeman’s experiment of playing Ousmane Dembele as a right wing-back seemed to be paying off.
The second half, however, was a different story and the manager has to shoulder most of the blame for the collapse.
Koeman’s second half substitutes derailed Barcelona.
Center back Ronald Araujo picked up a knock in the first half but managed to make it to halftime. Not wanting to take a risk, it was evident he was going to be subbed off. The natural choice to replace him would have been Oscar Mingueza.
Except Koeman opted for Sergi Roberto.
As soon as the second half began, Levante were all over Barcelona and it wasn’t long before they pulled one back with Roberto at the center of it.
Levante equalized minutes later before Dembele put Barcelona ahead once more.
In order to try to secure the lead, Koeman took off Dembele for Antoine Griezmann for Sergiño Dest and Martin Braithwaite.
Koeman’s substitutions failed him a second time as Levante scored a third to tie the game.
The Dutchman has been heavily questioned about his substitutions all season. How they never really seem to work and only serve to destabilize the side. The same argument can be made here as they were playing well and then the introduction of Roberto changed all that.
Pinning the blame solely on Roberto would be unfair but it goes back to Koeman’s lack of player management. Mingueza did not have a good game against Atletico Madrid and was at fault for one of the goals in the Granada match.
Yet, he is still one of their better, and only, defenders. Why not opt for an actual center-back as opposed to a midfielder/converted right back?
To make matters worse, after freezing him out of the side for the past few months, he finally turns to Riqui Puig to try to pull something out of his hat with less than ten minutes to go.
If it wasn’t already, Koeman’s future has now got to come into question. Despite being unable to beat the likes of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, Barcelona were within a shout of the league title.
It’s the games against lesser opponents where he’s been unable to drive his side to a win. Levante is simply the latest occurrence. There’s also points dropped against Granada, Valencia and Cadiz to name a few.
In defense, the team is a mess and if there’s any area where they should have improved with him in charge, it should have been defensively.
The rumors of Joan Laporta not being entirely convinced with Koeman are only going to intensify. If this season’s proven anything, it’s that Koeman is not the answer Barcelona were looking for.
