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It took 37 games but Barcelona's first loss in La Liga this campaign has arrived, courtesy of a narrow away defeat to Levante that ended their 36 game unbeaten run in the league.
Things started off poorly for Ernesto Valverde's side as they fell behind to a first-half brace from Emmanuel Boateng until Phillipe Coutinho brought one back before the halftime break. The goals kept on coming, as Boateng completed his hattrick with Enis Bardhi and Roger Marti grabbing a goal each as Barca were down 5-1 early in the second half.
Two more goals from Coutinho saw the Brazilian claim his first hattrick in a Barca shirt and a Luis Suarez penalty cut the home team's lead to one. But the resurgence wasn't enough as Paco Lopez and Levante became the first team in La Liga this season to stop Barcelona from claiming any points to claim an unprecedented 5-4 victory on the night.
On that note, here is a look at the things that went wrong for Barcelona:
#3 Yerry Mina had a disastrous game
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde decided to experiment at the back by playing the unfamiliar duo of Yerry Mina and Thomas Vermaelen.
Not only did they get off to a poor start, falling behind 2-0 after 30 minutes, but also Vermaelen had to be taken in the first half due to injury and was replaced by Gerard Pique. However, centre back Mina looked shaky at the back and looked prone to committing errors.
The Colombian can be blamed for a major portion of the goals, firstly for not closing down Jose Luis Morales in the box that allowed him the space to run towards the goal and then square it up for the opener.
Secondly, the poor marking of Emmanuel Boateng on the edge of the box let the Ghanian free, allowing him to go past the goalkeeper and then Nelson Semedo fell down too easily in the hopes of Boateng's challenge being called for a foul. The goals coming after the start of the second half as poor man marking allowed Levante to grab two quickfire goals.
Lastly, the 23-year-old was at fault once again for the fifth goal as his decision to not apply any pressure or lunge into a challenge let Enis Bardhi to put the ball through his legs which was converted by Roger Marti to pile on the misery for the Barcelona defense.
#2 Leaking Goals in a Flurry
The goals conceded by Barcelona, especially in the second half, came in the span of just seven minutes. This was a huge deciding factor as the game went away from Barca's reach in very little time even though they came close to staging an unlikely comeback and fell short by just one goal.
The first goal in the second half was conceded immediately after kickoff and Levante's fifth goal caught the La Liga Champions on the counter-attack as things were falling apart at this stage for the Blaugrana with over 30 minutes left on the clock.
Conceding three goals in such a short amount of time pegged Barcelona back and sent them into shock, leaving them with a mountain to climb.
Had it been a one or two goal deficit, it would have given Ernesto Valverde and Barca some time to re-think their strategy in their quest for a comeback but poor defending and a lack of concentration at the back cost them which ultimately ended their dream of going unbeaten all season long.
#1 Messi's absence hurt Barcelona
Ernesto Valverde took a huge gamble by resting superstar Lionel Messi from the starting XI and not even naming him on the bench. This eventually hurt Barcelona as his unavailability cost the Spanish Champions their unbeaten streak.
Messi single-handedly can change the complexion of a game on his own and Barca missed that against Levante. They in fact needed the Argentinian to provide that spark and turn the game around, not at the hour mark but when the Catalonians fell behind to a two-goal margin in the first half.
Phillipe Coutinho and Luis Suarez did stage a comeback but it wasn't enough. Had it been for Messi's involvement, Valverde's side probably wouldn't have fallen behind by such a margin as just the presence of the World's Best Player on the pitch would have been enough to lift Barcelona with his all-around magic in the final third of the pitch.
His appearance from the bench could have also proven to be decisive but not naming the Argentinian wizard even on the bench will potentially end up manager Valverde in the middle of numerous questions and criticism from fans and media alike as Barcelona can no longer call themselves "invincibles".
