Barcelona entertained PSV Eindhoven at the Nou Camp earlier today as they looked to kick things off in the UEFA Champions League with a victory. The Catalans began the match on the front foot and put the PSV defence under pressure early on. They scored the opening goal of the contest courtesy of Lionel Messi’s fine free-kick in the 32nd minute. However, the away side kept on threatening the Barca goal but couldn’t make the most of their chances. Barca went into the half-time break with a narrow 1-0 lead.
The second half was more of the same story for the home team as they kept on dominating and eventually scored their second goal in the 74th minute through Ousmanne Dembele’s strike. Messi scored again just three minutes later with a clever finish. The Argentine put the icing on the cake and completed his hattrick in the 87th minute as Barca ran out 4-0 winners on the night.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the encounter against PSV.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 6/10
The German goalie was hardly tested during the game and kept a comfortable clean sheet on the night.
RB: Sergi Roberto – 7/10
He was a wonderful outlet down the right flank and performed his defensive duties well.
CB: Gerard Piqué – 6/10
The Spanish centre-back made a few good blocks and was calm in possession off the ball.
CB: Samuel Umtiti – 4/10
He got booked twice which was the only negative in an otherwise positive performance from Barca.
LB: Jordi Alba – 6/10
He struggled to cope with the threat of Hirving Lozano but did enough to keep the Mexican international quiet.
CM: Ivan Rakitic – 7/10
The Croatian pulled strings for the Catalans while operating at the middle of the park. He put in some excellent through passes and set up Messi well for Barca’s third goal.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 6/10
The Spanish midfielder broke down a lot of PSV attacks and shielded his backline well.
CM: Philippe Coutinho – 7/10
The Brazilian playmaker missed some chances to score but was a constant threat to the PSV defence.
RM: Lionel Messi – 9.5/10
Another flawless performance from Messi! The Argentine wing wizard broke the deadlock with a fantastic free-kick in the 32nd minute. He also scored Barca’s third goal with a smart finish from close range and completed his hattrick in the 87th minute to cap off another exceptional performance for the Catalans.
ST: Luis Suárez – 6/10
The Uruguayan was a frustrated figure up top after failing to find the back of the net despite getting a plethora of opportunities to score.
LM: Ousmane Dembélé – 9/10
He curled a fantastic strike to score Barca’s second goal which made the points secure for the home side.
Substitutes:
CM: Arthur Melo – 5/10
He came off the bench to provide some fresh legs on the pitch.
CM: Clement Lenglet – 5/10
He came on to provide some energy in midfield.
CM: Arturo Vidal – N/A
The Chilean hardly had any time to make an impact.
