Barcelona player ratings as Lionel Messi gets a 7 and Busquets a 5 in El Clasico draw

Andy West 01:04 07/05/2018
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  • Could the likes of Suarez and Messi be rested against Levante?

    La Liga champions Barcelona were twice pegged back by Real Madrid as an entertaining El Clasico encounter finished 2-2 at the Nou Camp.

    Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both put the home side ahead, only for Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to earn Real a point.

    Barca are now only three games from becoming the first side to complete an unbeaten La Liga campaign, but Champions League finalists Real will view the match as a missed opportunity after playing against 10 men for the whole of the second half.

    Here, we rate the Barcelona players.

    BARCELONA

    Ter Stegen 6 – Made a good save at Ronaldo’s feet in the first half, couldn’t do anything about Madrid’s two goals.

    Roberto 5 – Great cross for opener and had a decent first before stupidly getting himself sent off for retaliating against Marcelo.

    Pique 7 – Looked to be struggling with injury and had difficulty with Benzema’s movement, but gave absolute effort and made key blocks.

    Umtiti 7 – Tower of strength in defence, not letting anything get past him and clearing everything that came near.

    Alba 8 – Always surging forward, offering a great outlet for his team, and also did a very good job in defence.

    Coutinho 5 – Strong start, regularly getting forward. Then faded badly, not doing enough defensively and replaced at the break.

    Rakitic 7 – Nothing fancy but steady and intelligent throughout, providing Barca’s most stable presence in the centre of the pitch.

    Busquets 5 – An unusually wayward display. Caught out of position for Real’s first goal and couldn’t get hold of the game.

    Iniesta 6 – Some flashes of brilliance but made relatively little impact before departing his final Clasico to a standing ovation.

    Messi 7 – Below-par first half, booked for fouling Ramos. Completely different player after the break, firing home superbly and always threatening.

    Suarez 7 – Lethal finish for first goal – maybe off his shin. Teed up Messi for the second goal and never stopped working.

    SUBS

    Semedo 7 – Replaced the dismissed Roberto at right-back and showed plenty of energy and purpose at both ends.

    Paulinho 6 – Came on for Iniesta for the last 30 minutes and was full of powerful running, but sometimes clumsy in possession.

    Alcacer N/A – Injury time entrant for the exhausted Suarez.

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