In the early morning of March 8, Beijing time, a match in the 27th round of La Liga, Athletic Bilbao hosted Levante. As a result, 90 minutes later, Levante, who was at the bottom of the league, lost 1-3 and missed the record of 4 rounds of unbeaten. In the next round, Levante will return home for a life-and-death battle with Espanyol in relegation.
Home team Bilba have not been in good form recently, except for the 4-0 defeat to Barca in the league, they also made it 1-0 in the Copa del Rey a few days ago, missing the final for three consecutive years. But for Bilba, who has been in the upper middle and upper reaches of La Liga for many years, their results are still stable, ranking 8th before the early morning and also 8th after winning the game.
In contrast, Levante actually needs to win this game more, at least they want to get a draw and leave. In the 3 rounds of matches before the early hours of the morning, Levante performed quite well, with an unbeaten run of 2 wins and 1 draw, including a defeat over defending champions Atletico Madrid. Remember at the beginning of the season, Levante and Real Madrid drew 3-3, and at that time, few fans would predict that this team would currently be at the bottom of the league.
In the first half of the game, Levante was actually able to compete with the opponent, and the two sides drew 0-0 at halftime. But in the second half, Bilba's home advantage was revealed, and they finished the game in 25 minutes. First in the 62nd minute, Alex Berenguer picked up from the flank, Besca won in the middle, and the home team broke the deadlock on the field.
In the 75th minute, Injaciel Williams received a pass from Berenguer and scored from a tight angle, and Bilba suddenly led 2-0 on aggregate. In the 87th minute, Levante was sent to the penalty area, Salaja took the penalty and Bilba crushed Levante in the second half 25 minutes.
Although he was three goals behind, Levante showed his fighting spirit in the last moments. In the 91st minute, through a series of combinations, Levante player DeFlutos scored from a small angle to save some face for the visiting team. In the end, Bilba won 3-1, ending Levante's 3-round unbeaten record. The latter missed out on 4 rounds of unbeaten opportunities.
After the whole game, Levante was indeed in a comprehensive disadvantage. In terms of possession, they are 46%-54% behind their opponents. On the shooting end, it was also 6-14 in an absolute downwind. But there is no denying that Levante still has a certain strength, and they still have the possibility of relegation. As the hero of this Bilba victory, the 26-year-old Spanish star Berenguer has revived a Messi record, he is the first player since February 2020 to deliver two assists or more in a single game in La Liga.
Levante wants to relegate and arguably the remaining 11 rounds cannot be easily abandoned. At the moment in the standings, Levante is at the bottom of the 18 points, seven points away from the relegation zone. In the next game, they will meet the Spaniard with 32 points. Wu Lei's owners seem to be very safe, but after 2022, they actually won a league game, and the results were quite unstable.