Barcelona pair Ousmane Dembele and Luuk de Jong have taken their respective places in the headlines on Sunday evening.
Xavi Hernandez’s troops of course marked their return to action a short time ago.
Amid a stellar spell of recent form, the Blaugrana made the trip to the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia, hopeful of making it seven La Liga wins on the trot up against relegation-battling Levante.
And, when all was said and done, emerge with their latest three-point haul is precisely what the visitors managed.
This, though, only came owing to a last-gasp injury-time winner, on the back of a pulsating 90 minutes featuring five goals, three spot-kicks and a host of further presentable opportunities.
First on target for Barca was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who guided Xavi and co. level on the hour mark, before Pedri continued his fine individual spell in front of goal to turn the clash on its head just minutes later.
Pedri scores first time from a Gavi assist
Barcelona really has the best young talent in the league pic.twitter.com/2fuSR00Fyw
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 10, 2022
After Levante levelled things up from the penalty spot inside the game’s closing ten minutes, though, it appeared as though the Blaugrana would be forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
But, cometh the hour, cometh the man…
As proceedings ticked over into time added on, a delicious whipped Jordi Alba delivery from the left was met by the head of Luuk de Jong, who made no mistake in nodding a picture-perfect header home at the near post, sparking jubilant celebrations amongst the visiting players and fans alike:
Barcelona’s race for second place, is not over yet
Luuke de Jong proves the critics wrong, with a fabulous match winning header pic.twitter.com/UUR5HWbzn8
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 10, 2022
De Jong & Dembele starring
On the back of the action coming to a close at the Estadi Ciutat, it should therefore come as little surprise to hear of that man de Jong, once viewed as something of a running joke in Catalunya, take his place front and centre in the post-match chatter.
The social media reaction amongst Barcelona’s supporters has proven a particular sight to behold, with de Jong’s new nickname having come back to the fore in a major way:
Luuk De GOAT
I LOVE YOU
— AbdulGaniyu (@001Legendary) April 10, 2022
Luuk De Goat does it again! https://t.co/fxm5Vqq4hd
— Mpho Mokhele. (@Dani_Gift) April 10, 2022
Build Luuk De Jong a Statue
That is the real GOAT— kay (@KayPoissonOne) April 10, 2022
Reason we called him The
Luuk de Goat pic.twitter.com/FHxTfsl6EZ— Emad (@Emad_ksa__) April 10, 2022
The man the myth the legend luuk the GOAT 3-2 for barca #LevanteBarca pic.twitter.com/qmT66w4msU
— WLFTHEBEAST (@Ahmed98312523) April 10, 2022
LUUK DE GOAT
Clutch as always— (@BlaugranaGlen) April 10, 2022
LUUK DE GOAT is the best striker in the world
Wake me up when I miss
— mp (@starboy__16) April 10, 2022
Need a late winner, Better Call Luuk. The GOAT. pic.twitter.com/m0wyW22aoL
— Saif Ijaz (@saifijaz_10) April 10, 2022
LUUK DE GOAT.
THE GREATEST THERE EVER WAS, THE GREATEST THERE EVER IS. THE GREATEST THERE EVER WILL BE.— Cule¹⁰ (@Mes1QueUnClub) April 10, 2022
I LOVE HIM SO MUCH LUUK DE GOAT DONT EVER DISRESPECT HIS NAME.
— J. (@JojoCule) April 10, 2022
Elsewhere, joining Barca’s on-loan hitman in the headlines has been winger Ousmane Dembele.
French international Dembele, ahead of the expiration of his contract at the Camp Nou in the summer, has of course enjoyed a remarkable resurgence of late.
And such efforts continued on Sunday evening, as the former Borussia Dortmund man, in the process of teeing up Aubameyang’s 2nd-half strike, joined one-time teammate Lionel Messi as the most prolific assist provider across Europe’s top-5 leagues since the turn of the year:
9 – FC Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé has provided the most assist in the Top 5 European Leagues in the 2022 year (nine, alongside Lionel Messi). Emergent. pic.twitter.com/YIpuWqAklh
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 10, 2022
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