Barcelona thrashed local rivals Espanyol 5-0 at the Camp Nou to stay in the hunt for their 24th La Liga title.
In-form striker Luis Suarez was on the scoresheet again as he struck twice in the second half to put the match well beyond Espanyol’s reach. Messi opened the scoring with a brilliant free-kick while Neymar bagged a late goal.
Rafinha made his return from a severe knee injury and didn’t take long to join the party, scoring a goal with his first touch of the ball. Espanyol didn’t show any resistance during the game. The Blanquiazules made silly errors and threw the game away.
Here are the player ratings from the game:
Barcelona
Marc-Andre ter Stegen: 6/10
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen did not have much to do throughout the 90 minutes. The German was a mere spectator for most parts of the game. With that being said, the ex-Borussia Monchengladbach man was dependable when called into action.
Dani Alves: 8/10
Alves was a major threat going ahead. The Brazilian created chances and won back possession in dangerous regions. The full-back put in some vital crosses, along with the lobbed pass towards the end of the game which led to the fifth goal.
Gerard Pique: 7/10
Gerard Pique had a fairly relaxed game. The centre-back wasn’t troubled much by Felipe Caicedo. The Spaniard also helped in building play from the back.
Javier Mascherano: 9/10
Javier Mascherano was a true leader at the back. The Argentine kept the defense solid and organised throughout the game. He also put in some crucial diagonal balls to players in wide positions, hence opening up the play.
Jordi Alba: 7/10
Jordi Alba didn’t show much ambition going ahead in the first half, but improved and settled well into the game as the hour-mark approached. The full-back was later substituted in the 70th minute for Jeremy Mathieu.
Sergio Busquets: 8/10
Sergio Busquets was instrumental to Barcelona’s victory yet again. The silent performer was vigilant in the middle of the pitch as he prevented any of Espanyol’s attacks from gaining significant momentum. It was a tactically brilliant performance from the Spaniard.
Ivan Rakitic: 8/10
The Croatian was unlucky as his goal was disallowed after he was wrongly flagged offside. The ex-Sevilla man added physicality to an otherwise flawless Blaugrana midfield. He was dangerous with the ball, always looking to do all sorts of damage.
Andres Iniesta: 8.5/10
The Spain international kept on springing up in pockets of space time and again as he completed passes and made no mistakes. Iniesta weaved his runs through the Espanyol defense effortlessly and rarely gave his teammates a chance to complain. He was later brought off for Arda Turan.
Lionel Messi: 8.5/10
Messi was back on the scoresheet for Barcelona again as the five-time Ballon d’Or winner opened the scoring with a brilliant free-kick from just outside the box. The Argentine also set up teammate Luis Suarez for his first with a sublime pass into his path.
Luis Suarez: 9/10
Barcelona’s prolific goal-scorer continued his stellar run of form with two goals in quick succession. The Uruguayan was unusually silent in the first half but he completely ripped the Espanyol defense apart after the break. He found the back of the net twice and also set up Neymar, who bagged the last goal of the game.
Neymar: 9/10
Neymar, who seemed to have lost his form after the recent slump that Barcelona endured, showed signs of revival as he continually created trouble on the left flank with his penetrating runs and skillful dribbles.
The Brazilian bagged a goal and an assist to his name on the evening. Apart from that, he also delivered an amazing rabona cross into the box and narrowly missed a free-kick.
Substitutes
Jeremy Mathieu: 6/10
The Frenchman was brought in for Jordi Alaba at left-back for the final twenty minutes after he was given the green light by Barcelona’s medical team. It didn’t look like the defender had spent a month on the sidelines with injury as he put in a balanced performance in both defense and attack.
Arda Turan: 7/10
The Turkish international took no time to adjust to the tempo of the game. The former Atletico Madrid man played a quick one-two with Neymar on the edge of the penalty area in the build up to the fourth goal.
Rafinha: 7.5/10
The Brazilian came on for Ivan Rakitic and almost instantly made his mark on the game as he scored a goal with his first touch of the ball.
Espanyol
Pau Lopez: 4/10
The Espanyol keeper had a terrible game as he let in five goals. The horrendous fumble through which Rafinha scored the fourth goal of the game summed up his afternoon. The keeper was also poor while distributing the ball, as one of his clearances went straight to Luis Suarez.
Victor Alvarez: 5/10
The full-back was simply outplayed by Lionel Messi and Dani Alves on the left flank. He just couldn’t deal with the duo. Alvarez also conceded a free-kick just outside the box which led to the first goal of the game.
Ruben Duarte: 6/10
The centre-back was a little too strong with his challenges. The Spaniard was extremely fortunate to not give away a penalty after he brought Messi down in the box with his outstretched leg. Duarte made a few crucial interceptions and tackles, but could not prevent his side from crumbling before Barcelona.
Enzo Roco: 5/10
Roco had a fairly good first half as he managed to keep Suarez in check. The Chilean also contributed with a couple of vital blocks. But the centre-back's dreadful positioning was something that Barcelona’s front three took great advantage of.
Javi Lopez: 4/10
From the very beginning, Javi Lopez was tormented by Neymar as the winger danced his way past the full-back with ease almost every time. Lopez couldn’t get anywhere near the quick-footed Brazilian throughout the ninety minutes. He also failed to contain Suarez in the build-up to the former Liverpool man’s second goal.
Canas: 5.5/10
Canas made his return after being out of action since December. The Spaniard occupied a deep position in Espanyol’s midfield, but he still failed to coordinate with the defense. The central midfielder was substituted in the 72nd minute for Paco Montanes.
Victor Sanchez: 6/10
Sanchez failed to make the best out of the very few chances that his side had all throughout the game. Still, the former Barcelona man was quite composed on the ball as he tried to make the right decisions. At the end of the day, the Spaniard could only earn a couple of off-target shots to his name.
Pape Diop: 4/10
Diop was most certainly one of the worst performers of the afternoon. The Senegalese was extremely wasteful in possession. His carelessness in dangerous areas led to him losing possession at crucial moments. Two of his errors were immediately punished with goals from the Blaugrana.
Marco Asensio: 5.5/10
The forward failed to have any significant impact on the game. Asensio was isolated for most parts of the match, with Dani Alves effectively running him down and taking him out of the picture. He won a late free-kick for his side outside Barcelona’s box, but it was too little too late from the Spaniard.
Felipe Caicedo: 5/10
Caicedo was the target man for Espanyol. He held up the ball well in midfield as he looked to carry the counterattack against an ever so dominant Barcelona, but the forward was contained well by Pique and Mascherano.
Hernan Perez: 5/10
The Paraguayan looked lively in the beginning but struggled to have any real impact on the game. Perez found it difficult to complete passes and also got booked for a cynical challenge on Iniesta. He was later replaced by Roberto Correa.
Substitutes
Roberto Correa: 4/10
Roberto Correa came on for Hernan Perez in the second half and made his way into the referee’s book minutes later. The right-back was wasteful in possession and gave the ball away too easily.
Gerard Moreno: 3/10
Moreno was brought in for Caicedo right after the break. The former Villarreal man struggled to adjust to the tempo of the game and was cut-off from the rest of his side.
Paco Montanes: 5/10
Paco Montanes came on for Canas in the 72nd minute. There wasn’t much the Spaniard could do for his side as the damage was already done.
