Barcelona 2-0 Atletico Madrid: Player ratings as Catalan giants close in on La Liga title

Andy West 00:48 07/04/2019
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Luis Suarez celebrates his fine winner against Atletico.

    Barcelona took a major step towards the title with a 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou, moving 11 points clear at the top of the table with seven games remaining.

    Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were the goalscoring heroes while Diego Costa was the villain after getting himself sent off, but how did everyone else fare?

    Check out our Barcelona player ratings now.

    BARCELONA 4-3-3

    Ter Stegen 6. Made a couple of straightforward saves from Antoine Griezmann and had little else to do. Calm in his distribution.

    Roberto 7. Preferred to Semedo at full-back and worked well with Rakitic to build play down the right, offering a constant outlet.

    Pique 7. Made some important interventions and provided a sense of security after missing the defensively shambolic draw at Villarreal.

    Lenglet 7. Took a bash on the face from Costa early on but wasn’t perturbed and produced another no-nonsense performance.

    Alba 7. Surged forward to hit the post in the first half and never stopped trying to penetrate Atletico’s backline.

    Rakitic 7. Saw plenty of the ball on the right of midfield, helping his team keep their shape and control the action.

    Busquets 7. Calm and confident in front of the back four, looking more assured than many of his recent performances.

    Arthur 6. Knitted play together with controlled passing but perhaps a little too safe with his distribution. Replaced by Malcom.

    Coutinho 6. Flitted in and out down the left. Demanded a great save from Jan Oblak with a low shot and threatened with a header.

    Messi 9. Same as always. Brilliant passes to set up Alba and Suarez, forced Oblak into a great save and scored a sublime second.

    Lionel Messi celebrates

    Lionel Messi celebrates

    Suarez 8. Linked up play superbly at times, had a drive well saved before curling home a fantastic opener from 20 yards.

    SUBSTITUTES 

    Malcom 7. Introduced for Arthur and added a spark down on the right, stretching Atletico’s defence with pacy runs.

    Alenya 6. Came on at the left of midfield to replace Coutinho for the final ten minutes but made little impact.

    Semedo 6. Replaced Roberto at right-back in the latter stages, few opportunities to impress.

    Recommended