Barcelona‘s only pre-season game at the Camp Nou ended in a 2-1 win over Arsenal, with substitute Luis Suarez scoring the winner in the death in a closely fought game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring in the first half and an own-goal from Ainsley Maitland-Niles restored parity in the second half.
This was arguably Barcelona’s best performance in their pre-season. We take a look at how each player performed in their first game at Camp Nou this season.
BARCELONA (4-3-3)
Neto – Froze like a deer in front of headlights the only time he was called into action. Ccould have positioned himself better to prevent Aubameyang from scoring. 5
Nelson Semedo – Best player from Barcelona’s back-line, solid in defence and provided width. 8
Gerard Pique – Should have done better to intercept Ozil’s pass to Aubameyang that led to Arsenal’s goal. 5
Samuel Umtiti – Caught out of possession a couple of times but had several moments of good, clean display. 6
Jordi Alba – Couple of good deliveries but a sub-par game in defence to his high standards, left huge amounts of space on the left at times. 5
Ivan Rakitic – Did a great job in distributing the ball across the width of the pitch, produced a couple of great defence-splitting balls. 7
Frenkie de Jong – Maintained tempo in midfield, did what was required from him; nothing more, nothing less. 7
Riqui Puig – Arguably Barcelona’s best player. Ran the show in midfield, created a couple of good chances and was a treat to the eyes. 9
Carles Perez – Failed to match the intensity that he showed in the other pre-season games, linked up well with the midfielders nonetheless. 6
Antoine Griezmann – Failed to play at the level he did in the other games, hesitated to take a shot at times and lacked intensity. 6
Ousmane Dembele – Another frustrating display from the youngster, gave the ball away frequently and displayed questionable decision-making. 5
Substitutes
Luis Suarez – Persistence bore fruit, scored an acrobatic goal to seal the Gamper Trophy for Barcelona. 8
Carles Alena – Further proof that Barcelona’s midfield is secure for some time now, confident passing at the face of a high press. 7
Moussa Wague – Justified his promotion with a good game at right-back filled with good deliveries in attack and strong tackles in defence. 7