Luuk de Jong and Pedri react after Barcelona beat Levante in La Liga | OneFootball

Barcelona reclaimed the second spot in the La Liga standings after they defeated Levante 3-2 away from home on Sunday night.

Having gone behind early in the second half via a Jose Luis Morales penalty, Barça mounted a strong fightback as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang restored parity before substitute Pedri found the back of the net to put the visitors in the lead.

Hosts Levante, though, fought back and made it 2-2 in the 83rd minute through Gonzalo Melero’s penalty.

But, substitute Luuk de Jong rose to the occasion for Barcelona as he has done on quite a few occasions in the second half of the season, to power home a header from Jordi Alba’s cross two minutes into added time to win it for the Blaugrana.

Speaking after the match, the Dutch striker expressed his joy over the result saying: “I’m very happy. I like to score goals, but scoring in the last minute and getting all three points is a different feeling. I think we deserve to be proud of this Barcelona team.”

“The team knows what to do when I come off the bench,” he added.

Commenting on the La Liga title race, Luuk de Jong said: “Real Madrid will lose some matches… and they will drop points. We have to be attentive to their results.”

Pedri hails Luuk de Jong, Gavi

Pedri, who came on for Nico Gonzalez in the 56th minute of the game, was on target yet again for Barcelona.

Talking about the victory on Sunday night, the 19-year-old said: “I’m very happy with the win and the goal. We suffered a lot, we weren’t expecting a match like this from a team in the relegation zone.”

When quizzed about his recent goalscoring form, Pedri replied: “That’s what Xavi asks me to do. I’m trying.”

The Spanish international also hailed the contributions of his teammates Luuk de Jong and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who saved a penalty at 1-0.

“Ter Stegen’s saved penalty and Luuk’s goal were really important for the match,” he said. “Luuk is a very professional player and in every game he plays he scores goals.”

Speaking about the impact his fellow substitute Gavi made on the night, Pedri added: “He has a lot of quality… the intensity that he puts into games and training is crazy. I hope he continues like this because I have a great relationship with him.”

Up next for Barcelona is the UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg tie against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night at Camp Nou.

Source: BarçaTV+