Barcelona played hosts to Alaves at the Nou Camp earlier tonight as they looked to pick up all three points in this home clash. The Catalan giants dominated possession in the first half but failed to make a decisive breakthrough as they had to settle for a goalless draw at the half-time break.
Barca made a quick start to the second half and scored in the 49th minute via Memphis Depay’s wonderful curled effort. However, Alaves got themselves back on level terms just three minutes later courtesy of Luis Rioja’s goal. The contest ended honours even with both sides playing out a 1-1 draw at Catalonia.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the match against Alaves.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 6/10
The German keeper made just one save in the game and will be disappointed for conceding an early second-half goal which ruined his chances of a clean sheet.
RB: Oscar Mingueza – 6/10
Mingueza had very little defending to do and engineered a couple of lively moments in the Alaves half.
CB: Gerard Pique – 6/10
The Spaniard cleared his lines when needed but grew tired in the second half and got replaced in the 69th minute.
CB: Eric Garcia – 6.5/10
Garcia kept a good defensive shape at the back and was a threat at the other end as well. However, there was no clean sheet for him tonight.
The 4th Official uses images provided by the following image agency:
Getty Images (https://www.gettyimages.de/)
Imago Images (https://www.imago-images.de/)
LB: Jordi Alba – 7/10
The Spanish full-back got stuck in with a couple of tackles and picked up a well-deserved assist for setting up Memphis Depay’s goal.
CM: Gavi – 7/10
He passed the ball with a lot of conviction and engineered a few meaningful chances for his teammates to score. He also made some good runs with the ball in the Alaves half.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 7/10
The veteran midfielder orchestrated some decent chances for others around him and was not shy of pulling off a few energetic runs with the ball going forward.
CM: Nico Gonzalez – 7/10
The promising youngster was full of energy and running in midfield. He was replaced in the 79th minute.
RW: Sergiño Dest – 6.5/10
Dest made two good runs with the ball but offered very little in the final third.
ST: Sergio Aguero – 6/10
The Argentine forward hardly got into the game and had to go off for having breathing problems just before the half-time interval.
LW: Memphis Depay – 8.5/10
The Dutch attacker caused all sorts of problems for the opposition and scored a great goal to open the goal-scoring for the Catalan club. However, his heroics were not enough for Barca to claim a win in this game.
Substitutes:
LW: Philippe Coutinho – 6.5/10
The Brazilian playmaker was always willing to have a shot at goal but couldn’t find the cutting edge in front of the Alaves goal.
CB: Clement Lenglet – 6/10
The Frenchman added some bite and steel to Barca’s backline.
CM: Riqui Puig – 6/10
Puig injected some energy into the home side’s midfield
LB: Alejandro Balde – 6/10
The talented left-back didn’t get a foothold in the game after coming off the bench.
LW: Abde Ezzalzouli – 6/10
The 19-year-old made two encouraging runs with the ball.
