A detailed, player-by-player breakdown of Barcelona's dominating La Liga victory over Levante
| Claudio Bravo | 7.2 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 23 Passes: 13 Pass Accuracy: 92 % Shots Faced: 2 Saves Made: 2 Clearances: 1 Bostjan says: 7.0 Bravo had a very quiet game against Levante, but he maintained his concentration throughout to earn his fourth consecutive clean sheet. He was calm when on the ball, when necessary he even left his area to clear the ball as far as 25 yards out. Officially he was credited with two saves, but he hardly broke a sweat making either of the stops. Just about the only other play Bravo was involved in was a corner kick that he Chilean collected with ease. | |
| Dani Alves | 6.1 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 120 Passes: 89 Pass Accuracy: 92 % Key Passes: 1 Shots/Shots on Target: 1/1 Tackles: 1 Fouls Won: 1 Clearances: 0 Fouls: 2 Interceptions: 1 Bostjan says: 6.0 Hardly Alves’ best game of his Barcelona career, though his second half performance was better than the first. In the first half he gave away many balls, some of which led to good Levante counterattacks. In the second half he took better care of the ball and on a couple occasions combined beautifully with Messi, which included a beautiful back-heel play. The Brazilian’s crossing didn’t have the desired effect as none of his twelve crosses created any confusion in Levante’s penalty area. Alves was always open for a pass, but he had little effect on any aspect of the game. | |
| Javier Mascherano | 7.1 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 78 Passes: 71 Pass Accuracy: 100 % Tackles: 0 Interceptions: 1 Clearances: 5 Aerial Duels Won: 0 Bostjan says: 7.5 El Jefecito quietly had a very good game. Defensively he made nearly as many plays as Mathieu made, but without as many mistakes as the Frenchman made. His positioning was excellent throughout the game. But the most impressive part of Mascherano’s game in this game was his passing play. He completed all 71 passes he attempted, including a perfect 10 for 10 on long passes, and he actually should’ve ended the match with an assist, had Neymar only been able to head the ball on goal midway through the first half. | |
| Jeremy Mathieu | 6.5 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 84 Passes: 67 Pass Accuracy: 94% Tackles: 0 Interceptions: 4 Clearances: 4 Aerial Duels Won: 1 Fouls: 0 Bostjan says: 6.5 Mathieu was all over the pitch, playing solid defense and even getting involved on the offense, especially in the last 15 minutes when he played left-back because of the injury to Alba. His anticipation skills led to many easy plays on defense that could’ve been much more difficult had he not expected the play to happen. In attack Mathieu had a few excellent chances to score his first goal of his Barcelona career. However, despite his good play there were also several mistakes that could’ve cost Barcelona a goal or two on a different day. | |
| Jordi Alba | 7.8 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 87 Passes: 75 Pass Accuracy: 88% Shots/Shots on Target: 1/0 Tackles: 2 Interceptions: 0 Clearances: 1 Fouls: 0 Key passes: 1 Bostjan says: 7.5 As has been the case in a few games this season Alba started the game slow only to pick up the pace later in the game. Apart from a couple glimpses in the first half Alba offered little in attack in the opening 45 minutes, but he became a large factor after the play restarted. He was constantly on the move and open for the pass, and his link-up with Sandro just after the one hour mark resulted in Barcelona’s fourth goal, with Alba picking up the assist. The speedy full-back struggled with blisters in the last stage of the game which limited his involvement in the game. | |
| Sergio Busquets | 7.5 |
Minutes played: 62 Touches: 68 Passes: 65 Pass Accuracy: 92% Tackles: 1 Clearances: 0 Shots/Shots on Target: 0/0 Fouls: 2 Aerial Duels Won: 3 Turnovers: 0 Key passes: 1 Arron says: 8.5 Another dominant display from the best defensive midfielder in the world, as Busquets put in a decisive performance at each end of the field for the umpteenth time this season. Defensively, he was near flawless, dropping into the backline to help the defense to another clean sheet, while offensively his pressing and subsequent creativity helped create Barça’s third goal. | |
| Andres Iniesta | 7.7 |
Minutes played: 71 Touches: 90 Passes: 74 Pass Accuracy: 99 % Shots/Shots on Target: 2 /0 Turnovers: 0 Key Passes: 1 Successful Dribbles: 1 Tackles: 1 Arron says: 8 .0 Critics might point to another game without a goal or assist and say that Iniesta still isn’t firing on all cylinders, but this was a great display from El Illusionista irrespective of what the headline stats might say. Early on in the game, Iniesta was one of the creative forces behind Barça’s dominance and could have registered an assist with a superb pass to find Neymar, only for the Brazilian to be denied by Jesus Fernandez. | |
| Ivan Rakitić | 8.5 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 140 Passes: 124 Pass Accuracy: 124% Shots/Shots on Target: 1/1 Aerial Duels Won: 2 Tackles: 2 Turnovers: 3 Key Passes: 0 Interceptions: 3 Arron says: 10 .0 Perfect. Simply perfect. I’m just going to persist with my nickname, because I genuinely believe that Rakitić is a midfield deity. Rakitić giveth: scoring a bullet of a second goal with a long-range thunderbolt and Rakitić taketh away: denying Levante a certain goal at the other end with an incredible last ditch challenge while the two teams were still tied at 0-0. He didn’t put a single foot wrong, even when he switched to pivote. Easily the signing of the summer in world football. | |
| Pedro | 6.6 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 49 Passes: 38 Pass Accuracy: 89% Shots/Shots on Target: 2/1 Turnovers: 2 Successful Dribbles: 1 Key Passes: 1 Tackles: 0 Fouls Won: 1 Inder says: 7.0 Pedro seems to be making a habit of getting noticed for being totally invisible during matches. Having scored a goal, from a great cut back by Alba, will have done his confidence a world of good. However, the Canary Islander needs to show a LOT more. He needs to improve on link up play, off the ball positioning and finishing, and needs to do it this year since both Munir and Sandro will be gunning for his spot on the bench if they keep their form. | |
| Lionel Messi | 8.8 |
Minutes played: 90 Touches: 97 Passes: 79 Pass Accuracy: 84% Shots/Shots on Target: 3/1 Fouls Won: 2 Successful Dribbles: 2 Key Passes: 5 Turnovers: 1 Tackles: 1 Inder says: 9.0 Lionel Messi in this form is unplayable. From the dribbles to the creativity, and to the finishing (the missed penalty being the stain on his performance), Messi showed most of his repertoire. La Pulga seems to be getting a better understanding of what the coach wants from him and was visibly improving as the game went on. Playing deeper than what we are used to, Messi is definitely enjoying the new found space he has, thanks to the support of two narrow forwards. | |
| Neymar | 8.5 |
Minutes played: 51 Touches: 39 Passes: 21 Pass Accuracy: 71 % Shots/Shots on Target: 4/2 Fouls Won: 3 Key Passes: 0 Successful Dribbles: 4 Turnovers: 1 Inder says: 8.5 The Brazilian was lively the entire time he was on the pitch. Unfortunately he injured his ankle and had to be substituted out, that said, Neymar seems to be getting into form and better yet, he and Messi are looking phenomenal together. There are still improvements to make, like his finishing but one gets the feeling this could turn out to be Neymar's break out season in Europe. | |
| Sandro Ramirez | 7.5 |
Minutes played: 39 Touches: 19 Passes: 17 Pass Accuracy: 88 % Fouls Won : 1 Shots/Shots on Target : 1/1 Arron says: 8.0 There’s something about Sandro; yes, he’s talented, but not in the same way as a Munir, or even a Deulofeu. Yet, what he lacks in raw potential, he makes up for in hard work and a natural instinct in front of goal. He knows where to be and when; plus he has the composure to finish the chances he is presented with. With a well-taken goal and a splendid back-heel in the build-up to Pedro’s goal, Sandro’s contributions helped Barça pull away from Levante in the second period. | |
| Xavi | 6.9 |
Minutes played: 28 Touches: 59 Passes: 57 Pass Accuracy: 96% Interceptions : 1 Arron says: 7.5 This was the Xavi we all know and love; stepping into the midfield around the hour-mark, Xavi created a few chances with his superb distribution and it’s simply ludicrous to think that we have a player of his calibre ready and waiting in reserve. | |
| Sergi Roberto | 6.3 |
Minutes played: 19 Touches: 29 Passes: 25 Pass Accuracy: 96 % Arron says: N/A Another game where Sergi didn’t see too much of the ball, and as such, I’m not going to give him a full rating. | |
| The Team | 8.5 |
Passes: 848 Pass Accuracy: 92 % Shots/Shots on Target: 17 /8 Tackles: 10 Aerial Battles Won: 73 % Fouls Won/Committed: 13 /11 Arron says: 9.0 I’m deducting a mark rather harshly for the first-half, which saw the Blaugrana give up too many chances for my liking against the league’s slowest starters and poorest offense. However, once we got that out of our system, Barça were unstoppable and fully deserved their five goal win. From possession to chance creation to our ruthlessness in front of goal, we were far superior to Levante in every aspect of the game and on another night, could have scored more. | |
| Luis Enrique | 8.4 |
Arron says: 10 Another flawless game for our super-coach. Every selection paid dividends, as did each substitution. Not since the first-half of Tito’s reign have I been so excited about the managerial talent on our touchline. | |
| MOTM - Lionel Messi | 71% |
Bostjan says: Messi Did anybody really expect anything different? I mean, even though the man missed a penalty (which he won himself in the first place), he scored the goal to complete the manita and picked up two assists. That's just about the definition of a Man of the Match performance. Rakitić (18%) and Neymar (8%) rounded out the top three. | |
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