Barcelona 1-0 Levante: Lionel Messi keeps Blaugrana alive in La Liga

Lionel Messi's second-half strike earned Barcelona a 1-0 win against Levante in La Liga on Saturday. 

Barca finally broke down the Levante resistance in the 76th minute when Frenkie de Jong freed Messi to score the game's only goal. 

Levante's Aitor Fernandez had been in fine form prior to that. He ended the game with 12 saves, more than any other goalkeeper in a La Liga fixture this season. 

The three points move Barca up to eighth in the table as Ronald Koeman's side won for the first time in three games following defeats to Cadiz and Juventus. 

Levante started well at Camp Nou and could have taken the lead early on. Jorge de Frutos was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Dani Gomez drove over. 

Antoine Griezmann had a shot and then a header saved by Aitor, with Clement Lenglet firing over the rebound. 

Jordi Alba came close with a brilliant dipping effort and Messi failed to find his range from a number of free kicks. 

Messi and Griezmann linked well just before the break but Aitor saved from the Frenchman again to keep it scoreless at half-time. 

The introduction of Pedri in the second half added dynamism to the Barca midfield but it was more of the same, with Messi denied by Aitor time and again. 

Martin Braithwaite also headed wide at the far post as the clock ticked. 

The breakthrough finally came in the final 15 minutes, when Barca won the ball back, Frenkie de Jong passed to Messi and the Argentine finished expertly. 

Messi almost added a second minutes later but Barca had to settle for one goal, although the three points was the most important thing.