UEFA Champions League: AS Roma 1-1 FC Barcelona: Player Ratings

A detailed, player-by-player breakdown of Barcelona's opening Champions League match against Roma.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen

4.5

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 37 Passes: 24 Pass Accuracy: 88% Shots Faced: 3 Saves Made: 2 Clearances: 1 Bostjan says: 6.0 Another game, another 50-yarder goes into the net against ter Stegen. It’s easy to blame to the German for the goal, and he should take some blame, but a shot like that from that spot would’ve beaten many goalkeepers, even more experienced ones. Other than that play, ter Stegen was mostly solid, though late in the game he again inexplicably gambled running off his line for a play that Pique had more than covered. But there were also plays off the line on which he did excellently, like in the 22nd minute when he beat Mohamed Salah to the ball, and he also made an excellent save on Radja Nainggolan just before the halftime whistle

Sergi Roberto

6.4

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 66 Passes: 58 Pass Accuracy: 93% Key Passes: 0 Turnovers: 0 Tackles: 1 Shots/Shots on Target: 1/0 Clearances: 1 Aerial Duels Won: 0 Interceptions: 1 Bostjan says: 7.0 The game started off very brightly for Roberto as he was a constant presence in attack, but his passes brought little added value to Barcelona. But while he might not have had much luck in attack, though he could’ve been the hero had his 95th minute shot found the back of the net from 40-yards out, he made up for it with an excellent defensive showing as he all but completely covered Iago Falque out of the game.

Gerard Pique

6.5

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 122 Passes: 110 Pass Accuracy: 96% Tackles: 1 Interceptions: 1 Clearances: 6 Aerial Duels Won: 2 Bostjan says: 7.0 Playing for the first time since "the incident", Pique looked mostly good, but some rust was showing a times, for example, he was easily skinned by Edin Džeko early in the game. Overall though, Pique deserves a good grade as he was excellently positioned when he had to clear the ball away from danger. He did pick up a what could be called an avoidable yellow card which may come back to haunt him in deeper stages of the competition

Jeremy Mathieu

6.4

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 96 Passes: 82 Pass Accuracy: 95% Tackles: 2 Interceptions: 5 Clearances: 2 Aerial Duels Won: 0 Fouls: 0 Bostjan says: 7.5 It’s been some time since we’ve seen Mathieu start at center-back, but the Frenchman didn’t look rusty one bit. While he couldn’t match Salah for speed, with excellent positioning throughout the game Mathieu always got the better of him. Mathieu also had a very strong passing day, and it wasn’t all just 10 feet passes. In fact, it was his long ball that reached Rakitić for Barcelona’s only goal of the game.

Jordi Alba

6.6

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 74 Passes: 58 Pass Accuracy: 85% Shots/Shots on Target: 1/1 Tackles: 1 Interceptions: 2 Clearances: 2 Key Passes: 4 Turnovers: 2 Bostjan says: 7.0 After a quiet game against Atletico Madrid, Alba put in a very energetic effort, especially on offense, but even though he tried to create chances for his teammates, none of them were converted. Alba combined excellently with Messi, with whom he was on the same page timing-wise all 95 minutes. Defensively he wasn’t as influential as he was in attack, and he even made a few mistakes, though none of them came back to hurt Barcelona.

Sergio Busquets

6.5

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 77 Passes: 70 Pass Accuracy: 90% Shots/Shots on Target: 0/0 Tackles: 4 Interceptions: 0 Clearances: 0 Turnovers: 1 Aerial Duels Won: 1 Key Passes: 0 Fouls Won: 1 Sam says: 7.0 With Barça failing to score on all of their chances, it was important to keep Roma from scoring and with a wonder-goal aside, they were kept largely at bay. Busquets was a key player in this regard as he stopped any counterattack from happening and helped protect the back four through his accurate passing and tackle contribution. The back four was rarely exposed and the Barcelona pivot can take a large part of the praise.

Andres Iniesta

6.8

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 95 Passes: 80 Pass Accuracy: 89% Shots/Shots on Target: 0/0 Turnovers: 0 Key Passes: 2 Fouls Won: 3 Tackles: 3 Sam says: 7.5 One of Barça’s brightest players on the field, Iniesta was constantly on the prowl. Looking to get an attack going or looking to stop a Roma one. He completed the most passes of any midfielder and with an accuracy of 88.8%. This helped Barcelona to win midfield control which intern can be used to create chances. He was also good in his own half. Making three tackles and two interceptions helped stifle any Roma attacks.

Ivan Rakitić

6.0

Minutes played: 61 Touches: 64 Passes: 61 Pass Accuracy: 87% Shots/Shots on Target: 0/0 Fouls Won: 0 Turnovers: 1 Successful Dribbles: 0 Key Passes: 1 Tackles: 2 Sam says: 6.5 Having made a slow start to the season, Rakitić will be happy to have got the assist in this game. He made his way into the bow before firing a cross in just as he reached the byeline. Suárez was on hand to head it in and Rakitić was applauded for his assist. However, afterwards he faded. He couldn't get into his natural rhythm and found his influence limited. He was eventually replaced by Rafinha just after the hour mark.

Lionel Messi

7.3

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 116 Passes: 90 Pass Accuracy: 87% Shots/Shots on Target: 8/1 Turnovers: 6 Successful Dribbles: 4 Key Passes: 2 Fouls Won: 2 Tackles: 0 Sonia says: 7.0 Messi, as a general rule, is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, this really wasn’t a match where that showed. Overall, he wasn’t the best, and had the occasional misplaced pass. He played a little too deep, and was in the middle third instead of the final third. In the absence of Alves, he moved to the middle, instead of going forward, and he doesn’t really want to link up with Sergi Roberto. Messi’s performance against Roma wasn’t one that can be considered one of his best.

Luis Suarez

7.1

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 26 Passes: 14 Pass Accuracy: 79% Shots/Shots on Target: 3/1 Fouls Won: 3 Successful Dribbles: 0 Key Passes: 2 Turnovers: 3 Interceptions: 1 Sonia says: 7.0 Suarez was definitely one of our better players against Roma. His goal halfway through the first half is ultimately what ensured Barca’s one point. As usual, Suarez worked super hard, and turned out to be especially important when no one else was able to get the ball in the net.

Neymar

6.7

Minutes played: 90 Touches: 74 Passes: 55 Pass Accuracy: 88% Shots/Shots on Target: 2/0 Successful Dribbles: 3 Key Passes: 2 Tackles: 2 Turnovers: 6 Sonia says: 6.0 Neymar is slowly regaining his match fitness. For most of the game, Neymar wasn’t great. His passes were off, his finishing was poor, and he was effectively not on the pitch. However, he was much better closer to the end of the game, and closed the match well despite a lack of goals. Not his best performance, but then again, no one did very well, and a better match can be expected for next time.

Rafinha	4.9
Minutes played: 3 Touches: 1 Passes: 0 Pass Accuracy: 0% Fouls Won: 1 Kevin says: N/A Introduced in the 61st minute and withdrawn in the 64th. Normally this wouldn't warrant a rating but the midfielder gets a special mention as we wish him a speedy recovery from a cruelly timed injury. #animsrafinha

Javier Mascherano	5.7
Minutes played: 26 Touches: 19 Passes: 17 Pass Accuracy: 94% Interceptions: 1 Kevin says: 6.0 Introduced in the 64th to replace his Brazilian counterpart. He immediately set about diligently contributing in midfield and making sure the level didn't drop. No massively notable contribution but solid nonetheless.

The Team

6.3

Passes: 740 Pass Accuracy: 90% Shots/Shots on Target: 16/3 Tackles: 16 Aerial Battles Won: 41% Fouls Won/Committed: 11/5 Sonia says: 5.0 In general, the match was a poor performance by nearly all, and was disappointing for one Barca was expected to win. Ter Stegen wasn’t able to stop Florenzi’s goal, but it was a very nice one that likely wouldn’t have been stopped by any other goalkeeper. Rafinha’s injury was also disappointing. Also, despite the occasional brighter spot, Rakitic hasn’t been good. He needs to step up, especially considering how thin the entire midfield is. Another thing to point out is that the entire team isn’t passing to Roberto - he’s no star, but he isn’t bad enough to receive the unreasonable treatment he’s been getting. By the second half, all of the players on the pitch just seemed like they wanted the match to end. However, we did at least draw, and it is still the beginning of the season. Lucho’s teams tend to be better in the second half of the season, and they delivered last year, so there is no reason to lose hope, but if perspective is to be kept in place, then this was just not a good match.

Luis Enrique

6.3

Kevin says: 6.5 Giving Jeremy Mathieu a start was definitely the correct choice as the Frenchman put in a stellar defensive performance after some early timing issues with Salah. The rest of the 11 was as expected. Correct in bringing on Rafinha with 29 left on the clock as Rakitic had not perhaps played the game we've grown accustomed to from him. Had his hand forced in sending on Mascherano shortly afterwards. His team was not dazzling, however, they took a lead and dominated possession against an extremely gamey Roma side that fought til the last minute and gave us some scary moments. To be undone by a goal like that is no shame at all. A one that you just have to applaud. Not the ideal start but by no means a bad display.

MOTM - Lionel Messi	31%
Bostjan says: Messi With no player really standing out it was a close race for he winner of the award, but in the end Messi, again, won it. In second place was Barcelona's only goalscorer, at 26%. In a distant third was Iniesta with 11% of the votes.

Source: Bostjan Cernensek http://ift.tt/1LqqDXU