A tie against Rayo Vallecano over the weekend added to Barcelona’s poor performance as of late. In the Champions League, Barcelona hosted Porto in an effort to defeat Porto and advance to the round of 16 for the first time in three years. This would be the first time that Barcelona has qualified for the round of 16 in the competition.
Due to the fact that they had not advanced past the group stages for the past two years in a row, the pressure was quite great.
Following the resting of numerous key players in the match against Rayo, Xavi summoned back the heavy guns for this match; nonetheless, the blaugrana did not perform up to their potential that day.
However, after a slow start, they were able to turn things around and secure a crucial victory by a score of 2-1, which allowed them to go to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since Lionel Messi’s departure.
In this article, Barca Universal provides you with an analysis of the individual performances of the players at Montjuic.
Inaki Pena: 7
Pena did turn in a more refined goalkeeping effort after a wobbly showing in his maiden La Liga start on Saturday. Pena’s performance, however, was not as impressive.
Despite the fact that he did not appear to be very confident and that he made a few mistakes with his passes, he still managed to make a few good saves and put in an important performance that will help him feel more confident.
Ronald Araujo: 7
Deployed at right-back as Xavi made switches to his backline shape, Barcelona’s skipper on the night was not at his usual brilliant best initially, but harnessed his warrior’s mentality to bounce back later on.
Jules Kounde: 6
Put in some vital challenges early on and covered runs well, but was at the end of some chaotic moments that he was lucky not to be punished for as the game went on.
Inigo Martinez: 7.5
Showcased his impressive passing range again at times and also made some crucial defensive actions, with four recoveries and two interceptions.
Joao Cancelo: 10
Started his first game at left-back for Barcelona and sprayed some quality diagonal passes to switch play and scored a sensational equaliser for the Catalans, which was crucial in not letting their morale drop immediately after conceding.
The second half was even better, as the Portuguese was absolutely everywhere and played like the second coming of Neymar in his prime. A simply faultless display, as he also assisted Felix’s winner after one of many great forays forward.
Frenkie de Jong: 8
Although it is possible to criticize him for not putting in sufficient effort defensively while tracking back for Porto’s opening game, he demonstrated once more how much his absence was regretted by the community.
In addition to being incredibly clever with his passing, he was tremendously effective in moving the ball forward from the back.
Ilkay Gundogan: 6.5
After an extremely underwhelming first-half display from the veteran, Gundogan put in a much tidier shift in the second period and was crucial in seeing the game out.
Pedri: 8
Nifty footwork, smart circulation of the ball, and chance creation; Pedri was great as ever in maintaining possession and distributing play.
Raphinha: 7
Constantly made runs down the flank, worked his socks off and got himself into shooting positions and tested the goalkeeper.
While some of his decision-making in the final third can be faulted, it was a positive outing for the Brazilian overall, as he bowed out with a superb overhead kick attempt as well.
Robert Lewandowski: 3
Another shocking outing from the Polish veteran, who misplaced passes, got dispossessed far too easily and posed no other threat throughout the game, giving away the ball cheaply far too many times.
Joao Felix: 7.5
After a poor first half, Felix came flying out of the blocks in the second half and hit the bar soon after the interval.
His proactivity was rewarded as he eventually scored the all-important winning goal with a wonderfully deft finish.
SUBSTITUTES
Ferran Torres: 6.5
Made some great runs, showed some flashy footwork and showed good confidence to have a few pops at goal.
Alejandro Balde: 6
Kept things tidy after replacing Cancelo.
Lamine Yamal: N/A
Came on in stoppage time, so not enough minutes to warrant a rating.
