If you were hoping to see some swashbuckling and scintillating football from Barcelona, I’m
sorry, this was not the game to watch…The Catalans lost 1-0 to their rivals from Madrid and
honestly speaking, it was well deserved. Whether it be due to the tiring international break,
lack of inflexibility from Koeman, or dearth of team cohesion, Barcelona played a dull game of
football. Therefore, in this article, I’ll be reviewing and assessing how every Barça player fared vs Getafe, and did his jobs.
Barcelona’s Player Ratings
Starting XI:
Neto;
Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, and Dest;
Busquets and De Jong;
Pedri;
Messi, Griezmann, and Dembélé.
Substitutions:
62’ ｜Ansu Fati ↔ Dembélé
62’ ｜Coutinho ↔ Pedri
80’ ｜Trincão ↔ Griezmann
80’ ｜Braithwaite ↔ De Jong
87’ ｜Riqui Puig ↔ Roberto
The Defence
Neto (7): Made crucial interventions throughout the game, especially during the latter stages to
maintain the deficit to only a goal.
Sergi Roberto (6): Yet another mediocre and average performance by Roberto.
Piqué & Lenglet (7): The defensive duo constantly made key intersections but still managed to
give away the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch and leave the backline heavily exposed.
Dest (7): An encouraging game by the American youngster, despite playing out of position and
having little time to train with the entire squad. Hopefully, we get to see more of him as the
season progresses, but on the right-hand side instead.
The Midfield
De Jong (6.5): Had a promising and solid first half. However, after he made that challenge,
which led to the Getafe penalty, he seemed to crumble and look out of control.
Busquets (6.5): Didn’t do anything wrong nor did he do anything right. Much like Frenkie, he
looked out of control and wasn’t able to dominate the game as much as he would’ve liked to.
Pedri (8): The only positive from this match and if I were to name my man of the match, it
would be Pedri! Although he dissolved away in the second half, the 17-year-old was the main
man pulling the strings and making crucial passes in the right areas.
The Attack
Messi (7.5): The only other player besides Pedri who provided some productive creativity to the
team. He had two chances to score: one of them, unfortunately, hit the post, while the other
one went wide.
Griezmann (5): No excuses this time. A poor performance by the Frenchman again…Even
though he started the match in his preferred position, he was invisible throughout the game
and was barely involved. Although, when he did get the opportunity to score and make the
difference, he failed miserably.
Dembélé (6): It’s always tough to critique a player who is rarely given a chance, plays out of his
favorable position, and is returning from a long-term injury. Dembélé started the match poorly;
however, as the game went on he improved and got into some good positions to create
chances. The Frenchman obviously provides the team with a unique attacking element,
although that threat is useless if the player can’t make a complete pass or dribble. As
mentioned before, this is Dembélé’s make or break season.
The Substitutes:
Ansu Fati (6.5): He wasn’t able to make the impact he usually has, but the 17-year-old Spaniard
still managed to make some dangerous runs and plays in the opposition half.
Coutinho and Trincão (6): Didn’t have much of an impact on the course of the game.
Braithwaite (6): The Danish international was involved in one of the promising attacks in the
later stages of the game. However, other than that, he did nothing else.
Riqui Puig (6): It was surprising to see the youngster come on as a substitute, but still
disappointing that it was only for a couple of minutes. He barely had any time to have a
game-changing influence on the team
Discover more from Barça Buzz
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
