Martino rues Barca profligacy

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino lamented his side’s failure to get their reward in front of goal after the disappointing 1-1 draw at Levante.

The reigning champions – missing the injured Neymar – produced a lacklustre performance at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia on Sunday, to record consecutive draws in La Liga.

Levante withstood heavy pressure in the opening exchanges before taking the lead against the run of play after 10 minutes when Andreas Ivanschitz’s corner was met by Loukas Vyntra.

The home side only held the lead for nine minutes, however, as Gerard Pique headed home Xavi’s corner.

Barcelona improved after the break with Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello going close, but ultimately they were unable to break down a stubborn Levante defence.

Martino felt that his side should have come away with maximum points, although he conceded that there would be many twists in the title race before the end of the campaign.

“We came here to win the match and play good football,” he said. “The result isn’t what we came for, nor was it what we deserved.

“We were not fortunate in front of goal. (There will be) many more surprises. I think the remaining 18 rounds of the season will show that.

“We’re leaving here sad because we were unable to win. We know that we’re going to win nine out of 10 of these type of matches.”

Barcelona had thumped Levante 7-0 in the first fixture between the sides at Camp Nou on the opening day of the season, and they will meet the same side again in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final next week.

And Martino was quick to credit Joaquin Caparros’ men for how far they have come.

“They have improved a lot from the beginning of the season,” he added.

“There’s not much to say. We tried and we did a good job. Their keeper (Keylor Navas) played a great match.”