Barcelona have successfully come from a goal down at the Estadio de Vallecas to beat Rayo Vallecano 1-2 in the Round of 16 fixture of the Copa del Rey. Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong got themselves onto the scoresheet and that was enough for the Catalans on the night.
Barcelona dominated the game from the first whistle to the last, yet found themselves trailing to a Fran Garcia goal around the hour mark. A whole host of substitutions by Ronald Koeman shortly after inspired Barcelona’s comeback in Madrid. Here’s how the Cules are rated from their victory against Rayo –
Barcelona Player Ratings Against Rayo Vallecano
Barcelona Player Ratings Against Rayo Vallecano
GK : Neto – 7/10
A decent evening from Neto who would be disappointed with the goal he conceded.
RB : Oscar Mingueza – 7/10
Mingueza did a satisfactory job at the right-back position with both Sergino Dest and Sergi Roberto missing. The young defender handled things rather easily at the back.
CB : Ronald Araujo – 7/10
Araujo was a solid presence in defence and kept the Rayo attackers at bay almost throughout the night.
CB : Clement Lenglet – 6/10
Not the ideal night for Lenglet who was seemingly a bit shabby in defence and his error lead to the first goal of the night for Rayo Vallecano’s Fran Garcia.
LB : Junior Firpo – 7/10
Firpo was cautious in defence and had a pleasant evening at the Estadio de Vallecas. Jordi Alba was brought on in the second half to replace Firpo.
CM : Frenkie de Jong – 8/10
An impressive performance from de Jong who scored Barcelona’s winning goal of the night after darting into the box unmarked and being on the receiving end of a Jordi Alba cross.
CM : Sergio Busquets – 7/10
Just the sort of night you would expect from Sergio Busquets. The Spaniard was calm and composed in defence and went about his business with relative ease.
CM : Riqui Puig – 7/10
Puig was a lively presence on the field of play and showed his brilliance on a couple of occasions with his passing and touches. He made way for Pedri in the second half of the tie.
RW : Fransico Trincao – 7/10
A rather tame performance from Trincao who would have wanted to do justice to the minutes offered to him. Ousmane Dembele replaced the Portuguese in the second half.
ST : Lionel Messi – 9/10
The Argentine was heavily involved in the game and led with example with his equalising goal in the 69th minute of the game. Messi started to the surprise of many and got his side into the quarter-final stages of the Copa del Rey competition.
LW : Antoine Griezmann – 8//10
The Frenchman assisted Barcelona’s first goal of the night and seemed to link-up well with Lionel Messi up front. Martin Braithwaite came on the closing moments of the game to replace Griezmann.
Substitutes
LB : Jordi Alba – 7/10
An impact substitution from Ronald Koeman who assisted Frenkie de Jong’s winning goal of the night.
RW : Ousmane Dembele – 6/10
Dembele was not heavily involved in the game post his introduction.
CM : Pedri – 7/10
The 18-year-old midfielder was a vibrant presence in midfield post his introduction and seemed to reignite the spark in the Messi led side.
ST : Martin Braithwaite – 5/10
Did not have much involvement post his introduction in the 85th minute.
