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La Liga | Gameweek 13
Dec 13, 2020 at 8pm UK
Camp Nou
LL

Barcelona
1 - 0
Levante

Messi (76')
de Jong (49'), Braithwaite (87')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Vukcevic (42')

Ronald Koeman: 'We are still in La Liga title race'

:Headline: Ronald Koeman: 'We are still in La Liga title race': ID:426416: from db_amp
Lionel Messi struck 14 minutes from time to secure three points against struggling Levante.

Ronald Koeman insisted Barcelona are still in the La Liga title hunt after a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Levante.

Barcelona had to rely on a late moment of magic from Lionel Messi to see off Levante, who remain in the relegation zone after a 16th straight defeat at the Nou Camp.

The win moves Barcelona up to eighth and to within nine points of top two Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, the latter having lost 2-0 to city rivals Real Madrid on Saturday.

Lionel Messi scores Barcelona's winner against Levante at the Nou Camp (Joan Monfort/AP)

"Of course we can win (the title)," Koeman said at his post-match press conference.

"If we improve and we have more confidence and we improve our effectiveness (in front of goal), there's a chance.

"There are still lots of games left remaining. We know our situation in the league

"We knew after we lost against Cadiz we had to win and let's hope that is good for the confidence."

Messi's winner, a crisp shot off the far post 14 minutes from time, was only his fifth league goal of the season.

"You have to realise they don't make it easy for him," said Koeman, who sent on defender Samuel Umtiti in the closing moments to protect Barcelona's lead.

"He's marked by lots (of players). But he's shown he's decisive.

Barcelona are at home to Real Sociedad on Wednesday and full-back Jordi Alba believes the Catalans are heading in the right direction.

“The level of the league is good and we are on the right road to move up the table”
- Barcelona defender Jordi Alba

Alba told Movistar LaLiga: "The level of the league is good and we are on the right road to move up the table.

"Regardless of what happened in the Madrid derby, we have to do things the right way.

"If we do we'll be up there. We've dropped too many points, that is clear.

"But the league is very open. This year there are teams who have never been as high in the table and they are up there at the moment."

Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez makes one of several fine saves against Barcelona (Joan Monfort/AP)

Levante beat Getafe 3-0 last weekend, but that was only their second win of the campaign and the Valencia-based side remain two points from safety.

Goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez said: "We should take pride from the fact they ended the game with three centre-backs.

"That speaks well of the way we played and the game that we played. We made one mistake and they scored, but we must keep showing the same attitude.

"We wanted to move away from the bottom and it was a shame we could not do that."

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1Real Madrid31246167204778
2Barcelona31217362342870
3GironaGirona31205663392465
4Atletico MadridAtletico31194859362361
5Athletic Bilbao31169651292257
6Real Sociedad311311745331250
7Valencia31138103432247
8Real BetisBetis31111283837145
9Villarreal31109124954-539
10Getafe31912103743-639
11Osasuna31116143644-839
12Las PalmasLas Palmas31107142935-637
13Sevilla31810133944-534
14AlavesAlaves3188152638-1232
15Mallorca31613122536-1131
16Rayo Vallecano31613122538-1331
17Celta Vigo31610153346-1328
18CadizCadiz31413142141-2025
19Granada3138203260-2817
20Almeria31111193062-3214
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