Barcelona locked horns with Real Madrid at the King Fahd Stadium earlier tonight as they focused on earning a victory in the Spanish Super Cup. The Catalan giants made a poor start to the game and conceded the opening goal in the 25th minute when Vinicius Junior found the back of the net with an excellent strike. However, Luuk de Jong scored a fortunate equaliser for Barca when Eder Militao’s clearance saw the ball strike him and go into the Madrid net. Both teams were playing out a 1-1 draw at the half-time whistle.
The Catalans ended up conceding their second goal in the 72nd minute when Karim Benzema scored from close range. However, Ansu Fati rescued the game for Xavi’s side just ten minutes later when he got his name on the scoresheet with a great header from close range which took the match to extra-time.
Federico Valverde gave the Madrid side the lead again in the 99th minute. However, this time, Barca failed to come up with a response as they crashed to a tough 3-2 loss after extra-time.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the match against Los Blancos.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 5/10
The German keeper could have positioned himself better to prevent Vinicius Junior’s goal. He won’t be pleased after conceding three goals in 120 minutes.
RB: Dani Alves – 5/10
Alves was good on the ball but struggled to cope with Vinicius Junior’s pace during his time on the field.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 5/10
He was caught ball-watching at times and had a difficult game on the defensive end of the field.
CB: Gerard Pique – 5.5/10
His lack of pace put Barca at a disadvantage at times during the game. However, he did make some important defensive contributions at the back.
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LB: Jordi Alba – 6/10
The Spaniard picked up a should injury early on in the game but battled through it and secured an assist for setting up Fati’s goal.
CM: Gavi – 6/10
He did a good job dealing with Toni Kroos’ threat but offered very little in the final third.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 5/10
The Spanish talent lacked the pace to get back and defend his penalty box. He had a lackluster game at the centre of the park.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 5/10
He struggled to get into the flow of the game and got replaced at half-time.
RW: Ferran Torres – 5/10
The Barca winger struggled to get himself involved in the final third and got substituted at half-time.
ST: Luuk de Jong – 6.5/10
He caused a few problems for the opposition centre-backs due to his towering presence and was fortunate to score in the first half.
LW: Ousmane Dembele – 8/10
Dembele was a constant menace down the left flank and caused plenty of problems for the Madrid defenders because of his pace and dribbling ability.
Substitutes:
CM: Pedri – 7/10
He gave Barca more control at the centre of the park.
RW: Abde Ezzalzouli – 6/10
Ezzalzouli added some energy to Barca’s attack.
ST: Ansu Fati – 7/10
He scored with a brilliant header to equalise for the Catalan giants in the second half.
ST: Memphis Depay – 6/10
Depay offered very little after coming off the bench.
RW: Ferran Jutgla – N/A
He hardly had any time to influence the game.
