Barcelona missed another glaring chance to close the gap on arch rivals, Real Madrid, as they threw away their 1-goal lead right in the end. Although it was mostly Real Madrid attacking throughout the match, Barcelona had their moments.
Here is how the Catalans fared against Real Madrid in this season’s first El Clasico.
Ter Stegen (7.5/10) – He could have done better for the goal conceded at the last moment. Lack of concentration has been a glaring weakness of Barcelona’s defence and although Ramos was left unmarked, ter Stegen was in a touching distance. Not that he can be blamed though.
Sergi Roberto (7.5/10) – He was the biggest concern for Barcelona in this game as he has been shaky in the right back position for the Catalans. And marking Ronaldo was an uphill task for an under confident midfielder who is shifted to the right back position. Considering that, he did well to stop him.
Pique (8/10) – Made a very crucial interception at the stroke of half-time from Benzema’s pass, which was otherwise a sure goal. Apart from that, he was disciplined as usual.
Mascherano (8.5/10) – He was more like Barcelona’s Ramos really. He stuck close to Ronaldo throughout the match, rarely giving him space to turn and shoot and obliterating threats with illegal pushes when the ref didn’t notice.
Alba (8/10) – Barcelona’s defence looked much more composed against Real, which is quite contrary to their previous few occasions, and Alba’s contribution was quintessential.
Rakitic (8/10) – He just went with the flow as Barcelona didn’t play the beautiful football they are known for. It was Real who dominated both the halves with Barcelona happy to sit back and hit on the counter and Rakitic was really comfortable in doing that. He didn’t try anything fancy and kept it short with passes. He was subbed off early in the second half for Iniesta. It was more of a tactical change.
Busquets (8.5/10) – His work rate was tremendous throughout the game. He sat deep when needed and went up on the counter time and time again. Without Iniesta, Barcelona’s creativity was lacking by a long distance and Busquets more than made up for it.
Andre Gomes (7.5/10) – He did his job well defensively and became most effective while intercepting Real’s counter attacks in the midfield. Was subbed off late for Arda Turan to provide a defensive cover, which however didn’t pay off.
Messi (8/10) – He couldn’t score from the gem of a pass that Iniesta provided minutes before the full time. He could have killed off the game. Apart from that, he was difficult for Real’s defence to stop, who could not contain him without felling him to the ground. If not for Neymar, Messi surely would have registered few assists to his name.
Suarez (9/10) – A very uncharacteristic goal by him. His clever push on Vasquez just gave him enough space to meet the header. He made quite a many clever runs but it materialised to nothing until the goal. No striker in La Liga is as clinical as him at the moment.
Neymar (7/10) – If not for his timely slip, Barcelona might have had a lead early in the game. He was very poor in the second-half, misplacing passes and losing out on the ball repeatedly. His miss from 3 yards out was the miss of the game.
Iniesta (S)(8.5/10) – It was as if not only Barcelona’s atrocious midfield but the whole of the Nou Camp was waiting for him to come on. Barcelona’s gameplay changed magically as he came on. With Messi alongside him, Real could hardly intercept the incisive passes. One of his passes that Messi missed by quite a distance was simply magical.
