Barcelona faced off against Deportivo Alaves at the Mendizorrotza Stadium earlier today as they hoped to earn all three points on the road. The Catalan outfit dominated the game in the first half but struggled to make the decisive breakthrough as they went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
Xavi’s men pushed on in search of the winning goal in the second half and finally managed to find it in the 87th minute courtesy of Frenkie de Jong’s effort from close range. The contest ended with Barca securing a narrow 1-0 victory away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the match against Alaves.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 7/10
The German keeper made a couple of decent saves at the back and earned an easy clean sheet tonight.
RB: Sergino Dest – 6.5/10
He made a couple of solid tackles and completed one good dribble going forward.
CB: Gerard Pique – 8/10
Pique made plenty of important clearances during the game and will be pleased with the clean sheet.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 7/10
He cleared the danger when needed and did enough work defensively to restrict the opposition from scoring.
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LB: Jordi Alba – 7/10
The Spaniard was solid when defending at the back and made one good run down the left flank.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 8/10
De Jong made a few dangerous runs with the ball and was there in the right place to score the only goal of this clash.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 7.5/10
He got stuck in with a lot of crunching tackles which made life difficult for Alaves at the centre of the park.
CM: Pedri – 8/10
Pedri fashioned a lot of inviting chances for others around him and made two promising runs in the opponent’s half.
RW: Ferran Torres – 7/10
He had a couple of bright moments in the game and was responsible for setting up Frenkie de Jong’s match-winner.
ST: Luuk de Jong – 6/10
De Jong was not afraid to have a shot but there was no goal for him tonight.
LW: Abde Ezzalzouli – 6.5/10
He was always willing to run with the ball but lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
Substitutes:
CM: Nico Gonzalez – 6/10
Nico added some energy to Xavi’s midfield.
ST: Ferran Jutla – N/A
He didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
CB: Clement Lenglet – N/A
The French centre-half came on to see out the three points.
