Barcelona welcomed Espanyol at the Nou Camp earlier tonight as they focused on securing a positive result in front of their home fans in La Liga. Barca produced a strong performance in the first half but couldn’t make the decisive breakthrough in the first half as they went into the half-time interval with a goalless scoreline.
The home side earned an early penalty in the second half which Memphis Depay successfully converted to give Barca the all-important lead. Xavi’s men protected their narrow advantage well and managed to grind out a 1-0 win in the Catalan derby.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the match against Espanyol.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 7/10
The German shot-stopper made a couple of solid stops and would be quite pleased after securing a clean sheet at home.
RB: Oscar Mingueza – 6.5/10
He was strong in the air and didn’t do much wrong at the back. Mingueza got replaced in the 87th minute.
CB: Gerard Pique – 7/10
The Spaniard kept things tidy inside his half and did enough to earn a shutout in the derby.
CB: Eric Garcia – 7/10
Garcia marshalled his backline with conviction and also won a few aerial duels for his team. He even passed the ball well from the back.
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LB: Jordi Alba – 7/10
The Spanish left-back made a couple of interceptions and orchestrated two good chances for his teammates in the opposition half.
CM: Nico Gonzalez – 7/10
He had some lively moments in the game and created a couple of decent openings for his teammates.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 7/10
Busquets had a few promising moments in the opponent’s half and deserves credit for offering some solid protection for his backline.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 7/10
He created some meaningful openings for others around him and worked hard defensively as well.
RW: Gavi – 7.5/10
He tracked back to defend inside his half when needed and made a few impressive runs with the ball down the right flank.
ST: Memphis Depay – 8/10
Depay caused all kinds of headaches for the Espanyol centre-backs and kept his composure to convert his penalty early in the second half.
LW: Ilias Akhomach – 6/10
He struggled to get into the rhythm of the game and got substituted at half-time.
Substitutes:
LW: Abde Ezzalzouli – 7/10
He made multiple exciting runs with the ball after coming off the bench.
RW: Philippe Coutinho – 6/10
The Brazilian offered very little during his time on the field.
CM: Riqui Puig – 6/10
He was tidy with his passing.
CB: Ronald Araujo – N/A
Araujo came on to see out the three points.
LW: Yusuf Demir – N/A
He didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
