Messi alone cannot save Barcelona in error-ridden loss to Levante.click to read...

Three second-half goals condemned the Liga champions to a first loss in eight with their Argentine playmaker the only bright point on a miserable day.

Barcelona have occasionally been accused ofMessidependencia over the years - reliance on their captain and talisman Lionel Messi - but it now seems truer than ever.

Ernesto Valverde’s side, in the coach’s third year in charge, are reliant on the Argentine and appear to have little else up their sleeve. That was explicitly clear in their 3-1 defeat at Levante on Saturday in La Liga, ending a streak of seven consecutive victories.

Real Madrid would have the chance to overtake the champions later in the day at Real Betis, after Barcelona’s collapse in Valencia. Messi was the only man in yellow holding his own for the visitors, as Barcelona looked to build on their emphatic 5-1 triumph over Real Vallado.