The first game on the little mini run was at home to Torino in the Top 100 shield first round. Levante fielded a side of reserves and youth players. Five of the club's U21 players were up against Torino. One of those youngsters, the exciting Dutchman Bart Ramselaar was the man that made the Levante goal. Setting Ryan Woods up to put the hosts a goal up on 13 mins.
Ryan Woods
Levante's poor record of conceding late goals came back to haunt them once more though, with the experienced Jefferson Farfan getting Torino level with 5 to go. Levante wouldnt be denied though, and won the shootout 5 - 3 to make the 2nd round of any knock out competition for the first time. They have been rewarded with a home tie in round two, with Independiente heading to Spain on 16th Feb.
The next game saw Montpellier head to the Ciudad de Valencia. Just over 19,000 were on hand to witness Jean Beausejour score his first game for the club. His strike on 11mins was enough to seal all three points. The Chilean has moved into a more advanced role since the arrival of Adriano from Barcelona, and is settling into it nicely.
The third game in five days saw the U21's travel to the Bernabeu. Real Madrid boasted the likes of John Stones, Gerard Delofeu, Timo Werner and Deli Ali in their side amongst others. Levante had nowhere near the same experience as their more illustrious opponents, and the youngsters were also in the Bernabeu pressure cooker for the first time.
The players were completely unaffected by things however, and went in front twice, before eventually coming away with a 2 - 2 draw. Jordan Graham, a £300k signing from Wolves, netted both goals, and along with his goal against Leverkusen on the opening night has taken his account to three. He is also the only player to score for the youth team. Bart Ramselaar created one of the goals, adding to his assist for the senior side earlier in the week, and Dani Romero also bagged an assist.
The true star of the show however, was Odisseas Vlachodimos. The youngGerman keeper put in a 10/10 performance, which is the first of the season in any competition, and has now been Levante's MOTM in both youth fixtures, averaging 9/10 across the two games.
The fourth and final game of the week was last night against Espanyol. Levante won 2 - 1, with Brazillian midfield meastro netting for the first and second time this season. The first was on 2 minutes, before a winner 3 minutes from time to keep up the clubs good recent run.
Chievo Verona (14th) and West Brom (16th) are the next two sides in line for Levante, and with the Spaniards currently sandwiched between them in 15th, a decent return of points from the two games could have them sitting on the fringes of the play offs. After losing the first four, and only picking up 4 points from the first seven games, that would represent a fantastic turnaround.
Levante have also made another signing for the youth team, with Eden and Thorgan Hazard's younger brother, Kylian, moving from Ujpest in Hungary. He was on the bench against eal, with Parfitt prefering to show faith in the XI that played Leverkusen, but he is sure to get a game at some point in the competition.
If he can produce some moments like this, then he will fast become a fan favouritein Spain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSPGG5nysVc
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