La Liga champions Barcelona fell to a shock 3-1 defeat away to Levante on Saturday after taking the lead but then conceding three times in the space of seven minutes in the second half, ending a seven-game winning streak in all competitions.
Barca had returned to the top of the table by thrashing Real Valladolid 5-1 in mid-week and were in a comfortable position when Lionel Messi converted a penalty in the 38th minute.
Their problems began when Luis Suarez was taken off injured a few moments later and they collapsed in the second half, with Levante scoring with all of their first three shots on target.
Jose Campana levelled in the 61st minute following a quick-fire counter-attack after winning the ball in Barca’s half, then former Real Madrid striker Borja Mayoral put them ahead in the 63rd with a superb curling strike from outside the area.
Nemanja Radoja gave the home side extra breathing space with a third goal in the 67th on the volley following a free kick, while Messi put the ball in the net later to briefly give Barca hope but the goal was ruled out for offside by Antoine Griezmann after a VAR review.
It was Barca’s third defeat of the campaign and they still lead the standings on 22 points after 11 games but Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid can both climb above the Catalans if they win their matches later on Saturday.
Levante, who have won three of their last four home fixtures against Ernesto Valverde’s side, moved up to eighth in the table on 17 points.
“It was an even game but they took advantage of those seven minutes. It wasn’t a great performance from us but the result is excessive,” Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets told reporters.
“We didn’t create much but in the second half we did ourselves a lot of harm with that spell when they scored three times.
“They committed a lot of players forward and got themselves into better positions than us. We’re going to try and stay positive, we were on a great run which has now been broken but we’re still top and we have a lot more games to come.”
