Messi remains silent, Barca held back by Levante.

Barca were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Levante. The Ciutat Stadium witnessed the biggest shock in La Liga since the beginning of 2014. With this draw, Barca are now only one point ahead of Real in the standings.

Messi was helpless against Levante's solid defense.

GOAL:

Levante:Loukas Vyntra (10')

Barca: Pique (19')

In the first leg,BarcaBarca had easily crushed Levante 7-0. However, at Ciutat this morning, things were not as simple for Coach Martino's team as they were 5 months ago. While possession remained dominant, reaching 72% in the first half, Barca faced considerable difficulties against Levante's solid defense.

Even more surprisingly, in the 10th minute, Vyntra capitalized on the laxness of the Barca defenders, leaping high to head home the opening goal for the home team. Once again, Barca exposed their weakness in aerial duels.

Having been dealt a cold shower, Barca bounced back strongly. And just 9 minutes later, they equalized. From Xavi's corner kick, center-back Pique joined the attack and finished accurately, bringing the game back to square one. Notably, this was the first time Barca had scored from a corner kick in La Liga since the beginning of the season.

After equalizing, it was thought that Barca would play with more enthusiasm. However, what happened in the remainder of the first half was a rather stagnant game for the reigning La Liga champions. They took 7 shots, but only 2 were on target and they failed to create any noteworthy opportunities.

It wasn't until the second half that Barca began to create clear chances. In the 58th minute, a central attacking combination between Xavi and Messi created an opportunity for...MessiMessi faced goalkeeper Navas. However, the Argentinian star failed to beat Navas with his final shot. Four minutes later, Messi had another good chance, but center-back Juanfran made a full-body save. Impatience and impatience were beginning to show in Coach Martino's team.

But the more eager they were to score, the more frustrated Barca became. Towards the end of the match,Coach MartinoThey successively brought on Sergi Roberto and Tello hoping to inject new life into the attack. However, no breakthrough was created. Despite attacking frequently without scoring, Barca even came close to conceding a goal from Levante's counter-attacks in the 69th and 77th minutes.

Having been held to a 1-1 draw, Martino has reason to be disappointed with his players' performance. This draw leaves Barca with only 51 points from 20 rounds, and Real Madrid have narrowed the gap to just one point.

STARTING LINEUP

Levante:Navas, Navaroo, Vyntra, El Zhar (Angel, 56'), Ruben (Issam El Adoua, 73'), Juanfran, Nikos, Pedro Lopez, Ivanschitz (Pinto, 87'), Diop, Simao.

Barca:Valdes, Montoya, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Xavi (Jean Marie Dongou, 84'), Fabregas (Sergi Roberto, 73'), Pedro (Tello, 77'), Messi, Sanchez.

According to Bongdaplus