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| Villarreal 1-1 Barcelona | Match Player Ratings |
Barcelona will have Lionel Messi to thank as the Argentina star’s 90th minute free kick rescued a point for them as they played out a 1-1 draw against Villarreal in their 17th Liga game of the 2016/2017 season.
Despite dominating most part of the game, Barcelona were unlucky not to come out with the win but Messi cancelled out a Nicola Sansone second half strike to make Barça 5 points behind Real Madrid instead of six, here’s how the players fared on the unfortunate night in Valencia.
PLAYER RATINGS – VILLARREAL 1-1 BARÇA
MARC-ANDRE TER STEGEN – 6.0
Was basic, pulled off two easy saves on Sansone early on, passing was good.. Could’ve done better to prevent the Villarreal goal but wasn’t his fault.
SERGI ROBERTO – 5.5
Too weak in defence and although he had some good moments going forward. Pato and Roberto Soriano bested him. Not a good game overall.
GERARD PIQUÉ – 6.5
Should’ve been brave enough to stop Pato from running such distance in the build up to the goal. Otherwise I think he was great and he led the backline neatly.
JAVIER MASCHERANO – 6.0
Some good moments tarnished by many bad ones. Was not in hand to help Piqué during the buildup to Villarreal’s goal, was lucky not to concede a penalty after he carelessly let the ball hit his hand in the box.
LUCAS DIGNE – 7.0
Preferred over Jordi Alba at leftback and his performance was one of the positives of the game. Was great in both attack and defence but unfortunately, his misplaced pass led to the goal.
ANDRÉ GOMES – 6.5
A decent game from the Portuguese who made the lineup ahead of Rakitic. Circulated the ball well, passing was great and his movement was good, just was not that creative spark. Replaced by Denis in the second half.
SERGIO BUSQUETS – 7.5
Was fantastic. Was the heart of the midfield. Passing was perfect and he bought Barça some breathing space on many occasions with his crucial tackles and ball recoveries.
ANDRÉS INIESTA – 8.0
The captain was one of the best performers of the night. Was surprisingly a goal scoring threat, was at the heart of every good. Slowed down later on but was great overall.
LIONEL MESSI – 9.0
Man of the Match as usually usual. Did not seem like his best game but he was Barça’s everything. Created two chances early on, tested Asenjo with a header, almost won a penalty, hit the post and finally got the equaliser with a stunning free kick. At some point he seemed like he wanted to get it done himself real quick. Just superb!
LUIS SUÁREZ – 5.5
Wasn’t good, he is off form. Fought hard but couldn’t click. His first half was terrible, improved in the second. Basically unlucky.
NEYMAR – 6.5
Looked to be the most active, did a lot of good trying all he could to end his 10-game scoreless run but could not. However, he had a lot of annoying moments too giving the ball away easily and he mussed two good chances.
SUBSTITUTES…
DENIS SUÁREZ – 6.0
Add a bit of creativity after coming on for Gomes in the second half but did not offer too much.
ARDA TURAN – 5.5
Came on late on and almost helped Barça with the equaliser but did not do much.
LUIS ENRIQUE – 6.0
Good lineup although one might argue Umtiti for Mascherano and Denis for André would be the better choice. Should’ve tried improving the attack bringing on Alcácer for the misfiring Suárez. Used only two subs which was not good.
THE TEAM: 6.5
They played badly at some point but corrected. Dominated most parts of the game, referee was not on their side and they were a bit unlucky.
SHOULD LUIS ENRIQUE CONTINUE AS BARCA COACH NEXT SEASON