Malaga
Carlos Kameni – 9/10
The former Espanyol shot-stopper was at his best tonight. He made save after save to deny a barrage of Barcelona’s attacks for almost 97 minutes. It was a performance which will be remembered for ages at the Camp Nou.
Mikel Villanueva – 8/10
The Venezuelan centre-half was at his majestic best at the Camp Nou. He practically shunted Alcacer out of the game. Also, he was smart in dealing with Pique, who troubled his defence with his aerial prowess in the second half.
Miguel Torres – 7/10
Like any Madridista plying against Barca, he too played with some ferocity and intent. He played an able sidekick to Villanueva by covering his tracks with his smart positioning and strong tackling.
Diego Llorente – 5/10
The Real Madrid loanee was everything like his fellow Madridista, Torres but a moment of madness undid all his good work in front of the defence. The highly rated youngster managed to hold his own against the likes of Rafinha and Suarez by nipping quite a few attacks right in the bud.
Federico Ricca – 8/10
The left-back was facing the heat in the first half from Turan and Sergi, but he looked like a different player in the second half as he virtually paralysed Barca’s right flank with his skillful defending which was based on some classic hard-tackling approach coupled with a no-nonsense attitude.
R. Rosales – 7/10
He deserves special mention for simply holding his fort against the deadly duo of Neymar and Alba. He was beaten by the wily Brazilian almost at will, yet he somehow upset the applecart with some classical defending. His contribution is immense considering the majority of Barca’s moves came from his flank.
Juan Carlos – 6/10
He arguably had the best chance of the game to score but he too like Barcelona’s forwards was bitten by the sloppy finishing bug. He was rock-solid while defending as he along with Fornals was crucial in forcing Barca out wide.
Juanpi – 6/10
He was expected to be the Albicelestes’ primary outlet to hit the hosts’ on the counter, but such was Barca’s domination that he was reduced to a mere wingback supporting his fullback. He duly fulfilled his defensive duties, but he let his team down on the offensive front.
Pablo Fornals – 7/10
He was deployed in an unfamiliar midfield role where his primary objective was to press Barca in midfield to foil their passing from the middle of the park. The 20-year-old midfielder did exactly that by strangulating home team’s free-flowing passing in the midfield.
Javi Ontiveros – 6/10
It was an anonymous display by the Malaga youngster. He did put in a shift down the right flank to contain the likes of Neymar and Digne. He was abruptly hauled off post-Llorente’s red card.
Sandro Ramírez – 5/10
It was a poor display by the former Barcelona forward. He struggled to create space when faced Pique and looked horribly off paced against the home team’s defenders. He had a couple of chances in the first half, but couldn’t convert it.
Substitutes
Luis Munoz – 7/10
The teenage defender put up a brave fight against the behemoths from Catalonia on their own turf by denying them a well-deserved goal. He threw his body down the line with some last ditch defending. More importantly, he brought in the required stability in Malaga’s defence after the premature exit of Diego Llorente.
Youssef En-Nesyri – 6/10
The Moroccan was brought on just to relieve a tired Sandro, who was already struggling to get his way around the home team’s defence.
Duda – N/A
It was just a time wasting substitution.
