Heard about the time a team was awarded three penalties in 90 minutes – and still lost!?
No, nor me. But that is exactly what happened in La Liga last weekend.
Remember it well because it will be surely a long time before there is a repeat.
To recap, it was Levante v Barcelona and a seemingly away cruise given the league positions.
If you want to cut out the narrative, Barcelona striker Luuk de Jong scored a header in added time to give his side a 3-2 win at the strugglers after a remarkable, end-to-end game in which his side gave away three penalties.
The story in more detail though: Levante began the game one off the bottom, in 19th place, but took a deserved lead against lacklustre opponents in the 52nd minute when captain José Luis Morales scored from the spot after a foul by Dani Alves.
Moments later the hosts earned a second penalty for a handball by Eric García. This time striker Roger Martí stepped up to take it and his effort was saved by Marc-André ter Stegen.
The visitors quickly made Levante pay as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed home a cross from Ousmane Dembélé before exciting youngster Pedri gave Barcelona the lead, thumping a first-time shot into the bottom corner after being teed up by 17 year-old Gavi, who had also been hauled on from the bench in the second half.
Just as an aside, those two – alongside fellow youngsters such as Garcia, Nico González, Sergiño Dest and Ansu Fati – are some of the impressive players aged 21 or younger in the current Barcelona squad. Despite the reported financial restrictions, perhaps their future is brighter than people make out.
Back to the contest and the drama was not over as Levante then won a third spot-kick when Dani Gómez latched onto a through ball and was tripped by Clément Lenglet. Gonzalo Melero assumed spot-kick duties and made no mistake against Ter Stegen to level in the 83rd minute.
It begged the question why did the home side have three different penalty takers in the space of less than half an hour, something that became even more pertinent when De Jong converted Jordi Alba’s cross for the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
Amazingly, with six goals in 16 appearances (577 minutes), de Jong is near the top of the charts for goals per minute this season. Only the Pichichi leader Karim Benzema (92.8 minutes) can better the Dutchman’s average of a goal every 96.1 minutes.
The dramatic win moves Xavi’s side back up to second in the table, 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid with one game in hand, indeed Barca remain the most in-form team in Europe’s top-five leagues on a run of 11 wins and four draws from their last 15 La Liga outings.
In fact, according to Diario AS, some in the camp believe that if Sevilla can take points off Real Madrid this weekend, they can still win La Liga.
Two things must happen for their dream to come true.
Firstly, Barcelona will need to will all their games between now and the end of the season and, secondly, Madrid need to drop points – a lot of them.
If Catalonians really believe that, they are more optimist than realist in my view.
That’s because Real Madrid are continuing to stride towards the La Liga title, helped further with victory against Getafe.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have been in a strong position in the league for much of the campaign, yet are now counting down the days until they officially win back the domestic title, which could happen as early as their next match.
Mark my words, any La Liga betting odds should be placed on the club from the capital.
It is not as straightforward elsewhere after the race to beat the drop took another twist.
Just a point separates the sides 16th – 18th and it could go down to the wire.
The joys and woes, plus plenty of La Liga highlights for the neutral, were evident as Real Mallorca’s bid to preserve their top flight status was done the world of good as they saw off reigning champions Atletico Madrid, just as relegation-threatened Granada were conceding 93rd and 99th minute goals at Sevilla.
And then there was Cadiz who led Copa del Rey finalists and Europe chasing Real Betis until 12 minutes from time.
It is at that end of the table where I expect the real drama to be over the closing month of the season.
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