Barcelona clinched the La Liga title in fantastic fashion as the hosts, Granada were dominated for most of the game by a robust Barcelona side. The match ended 3-0 with all three goals coming from Luis Suarez, two in the first half itself and one in the second half.
Granada ended the campaign safe from relegation and could breathe a sigh of relief that the loss did not affect their league campaign that much. The match ended with joy all around the Barcelona camp after what has been a fairly stressful campaign owing to the close finish as they win the La Liga by a point.
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Let’s have a look at the Player Ratings.
Barcelona
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – 6/10
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen had a decent game on the night, making a few decent saves but nothing that really stretched him barring a save from Fran Rico in the second half.
Gerard Pique – 6/10
Gerard Pique did well mostly barring the odd occasions when he was stretched on the Granada counters. Overall, he didn’t have to deal with too much trouble. He could’ve opened the scoring with a towering header but for a massive save from the Granada keeper.
Javier Mascherano – 7/10
Javier Mascherano was rock solid and made important interceptions. He allowed Barcelona to build from the back on occasions. He was substituted in the 75th minute for Jeremy Mathieu.
Dani Alves – 7/10
Dani Alves was strutting his usual stuff about as he charged forward with menace pumping in crosses and defended with vigor. His dogged determination was the driving force behind Barcelona’s second goal as he crossed for a thankful Suarez who slotted past the keeper.
Jordi Alba – 7/10
Jordi Alba did really well on the night as he found his way into the final third linking up with Neymar before squaring for a Luis Suarez tap-in to open the scoring. He performed his duties well throughout the game.
Ivan Rakitic– 7/10
Ivan Rakitic seemed to be in fine nick as he often managed to link up play in midfield with panache. He drove forward often and found a forward player with considerable ease. He was substituted off for Arda Turan in the 80th minute.
Sergio Busquets – 7/10
Sergio Busquets had an excellent game as he helped Barcelona completely dominate midfield in this game. He was left wanting on a couple of occasions when Granada counter attacked but eventually recovered the situation with a little help from his teammates.
He was booked for his troubles and substituted late in the game.
Andres Iniesta – 7/10
Andres Iniesta put in a really professional performance as he played his natural game with ease. He linked up well with his forward line ticking play and moving forward whenever possible.
Lionel Messi– 7/10
Lionel Messi was delightful on the evening as he created loads of space for his teammates. He kept Miguel Lopes really busy on the evening and the only thing missing from his performance was a goal or assist.
Neymar – 8/10
Neymar put in a fantastic performance as his link up play was delightful. He was part of almost all of Barcelona’s best moves and could’ve registered more than just the solitary assist for teeing up Luis Suarez’s third.
Luis Suarez– 9/10
Luis Suarez was sublime. He kept troubling Granada’s defense all evening and ran away with the Pichichi on the night after scoring a fantastic hat trick also effectively handing Barcelona the title. He scored his first from Jordi Alba’s square ball and second from Dani Alves’ cross in the first half.
He completed his hat-trick through an unselfish square ball from Neymar.
Substitutes
Jeremy Mathieu – 6/10
Mathieu came on for Javier Mascherano in the 75th minute and defended well to see out the game.
Arda Turan – 6/10
Arda Turan didn’t have much to think over on the evening and was happy to keep the play ticking after coming on for Ivan Rakitic on 80 minutes.
Sergi Roberto- N/A
Sergi Roberto came on in the 88th minute to offer Sergio Busquets some rest.
Granada:
Andres Fernandez - 6/10
Andres Fernandez was called into action a number of times as he made a number of fine saves including a brilliant one from Gerard Pique’s goal-bound header early in the game. He was quite overworked and would’ve been a fine performance from him had Suarez not beaten him as many times.
He was booked for his participation in a small brawl midgame.
David Lomban – 5/10
David Lomban had a lot on his hands as he was continuously on his toes at considering the assault mounted by Barcelona’s front line. It was a square ball from his side that effectively opened the scoring.
Jean Sylvain Babin – 5/10
Overwhelmed by an incredible forward line that kept making chances all evening and with no breathing space, Jean Sylvain Babin had a night to forget.
Ricardo Costa - 5/10
Ricardo Costa went completely missing for the goals and will want to erase this game from memory as he was completely schooled by the inimitable Barcelona front line. He was substituted off late in the game and received a booking for his troubles.
Miguel Lopes – 6/10
Miguel Lopes fared better than his fellow defenders as he put in some good challenges peppered by some really rash ones. He was lucky to have not been booked and could’ve even been sent off for one of his careless tackles.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 5/10
Part of a midfield that could’ve been mistaken for having not played the game, Doucoure did nothing worth talking about all game. He and his partner were completely dominated for space by Barcelona.
Ruben Perez – 5/10
Ruben Perez fared better than his midfield partner but barely enough to register a difference. He was far more visible than his partner and for the rash early challenge on Neymar, he picked up his 17th yellow card of the season.
Fran Rico – 6/10
Fran Rico worked really hard and did offer some menace to Granada when on the counter. He delivered some really good corners into the Barcelona box which Granada couldn’t take advantage of and nearly pulled a goal back at 2-0 when his shot once through on goal was saved by Ter Stegen. He received a yellow later on.
Adalberto Penaranda– 5/10
Adalberto Penaranda was supposed to have posed some threat but spent much of the time completely crowded out by Barca players whenever Granada had the ball. He cut a forlorn figure all game.
Ruben Rochina – 5/10
Ruben Rochina had a poor first half which was also his only half of the game as Barcelona dominated Granada for all of it. He was substituted for Isaac Cuenca at half time.
Youssef El Arabi– 5/10
El-Arabi registered a decent first half considering Granada hardly saw the ball as the forward drew many fouls from Barcelona but was left frustrated for the remainder of his game. He was substituted later on in the game.
Substitutes
Isaac Cuenca– 4/10
Isaac Cuenca’s only contribution to the game aside from missing a chance to pull one back after coming on at half-time was starting a brawl in the middle of the game by refusing to kick the ball out of play with two Barcelona players down.
David Barral– 5/10
David Barral nearly grabbed a consolation goal late on as he struck the post after coming on for El-Arabi in the 77th minute.
Doria– N/A
He came in the 81st minute and was left looking a little foolish as Neymar and Suarez left the Granada defense for dead to combine for the third goal.
