Last night Barça saw the first loss in the Xavi era, at home vs Betis. Let’s take a closer look on our players yesterday.
GK: Ter Stegen – 6/10 Despite conceding the Betis stunner, Ter Stegen put up a somewhat decent performance. He passed the ball very well but managed to only save one shot.
RB: Dest – 5/10 His defensive contribution to the game was very underwhelming, while he failed to make an impact on the attack as well. He just seemed so disconnected with the game, basically describing his influence on the pitch, this game.
CB: Araujo – 7.5/10 An absolute beast. Ronald Araujo is simply outstanding. It is a fact that Barca concede a goal and lost, but Araujo was major in the backline. He has improved a set of his weaknesses from last season, such as his passing, and he is just phenomenal. His crucial interventions and speed kept the side from conceding more.
CB: Lenglet – 7/10 Usually criticised by fans, Lenglet put up a decent to good performance. His ball distribution and effort to mostly keep out Betis’ attack from being a threat are his highlights. A solid performance let’s hope he keeps it up.
LB: Alba – 7/10 In his 400th match as a Barca player, Alba, did his job well to protect the left flank, as well as pushing up to provide some attacking reinforcements, as usual.
Midfield
CM: Gavi – 6/10 It is quite unfair to judge Gavi this match, as he exited the pitch, after acquiring a worrying head injury.
CDM: Busquets – 7.5/10 Busquets, much like Araujo, was a bright spot in a dark result. His ball distribution and ability to pick out the right pass, is terrifyingly good, and under Xavi, it could only get better.
CM: Nico – 6/10 After a few good runs of games, Nico has started to slow down. The oppositions press was too much for Nico to make an impact offensively but tried his best to stop them from doing damage in his own half.
Attack
RW: Abde – 6/10 First of all, Abde put up a decent performance. His dribbling was all right, but he needs to be more aware of his surroundings, and that means, passing, and linking up with Dest on the right flank. His finishing also needs to improve.
ST: Memphis – 5/10 The patch of bad form seems to continue for Memphis, his inability to actually be involved is evident. A poor performance.
LW: Coutinho – 5.5/10 Looked threatening at the start, but it all slowly drifted away. Ineffective.
Substitutes
Puig – 6.5/10 A decent performance from the Spaniard. He tried his best to make things work, but nothing happened.
Dembélé – 7/10 You could say that he is somewhat living up to Xavi’s words, as he lit up the wing on his arrival. Threatened Betis on several occasions, despite not scoring. He is what Barça missed, and not only vs Betis.
De Jong – 6.5/10 Tried to push the Barça game forward, but couldn’t do much vs Betis.
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