The Blaugrana romped home to a fine 4-0 victory against a Real Betis side, returning to the helm in the process, after Real Madrid had temporarily gone to the top of the table, beating Real Sociedad by three goals to one. The match at the Camp Nou saw no less than 83000 people arriving for the special occasion of Lionel Messi gracing the pitch for the Catalan giants for the 500th time.
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A guard of honour was given to Luis Enrique’s side commemorating the five trophies it won in 2015, following which the match took its own time to come to life. Much like its earlier performances it took the Holy Trinity of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. (MSN) to take the match by the scruff of the neck and make the difference.
Neymar missed a penalty but Betis’ Heiko Westermann scored an own goal as he tried to get the rebound away before Messi doubled the host’s lead four minutes later from a Neymar assist. It was then time for Suarez to complete the tally with a brace, which helped Barca finish at the top of La Liga table in 2015, also eclipsing the Spanish record of most number of goals scored in a calendar year; 178 goals scored by Los Blancos in 2014.
Here we take a look at the player ratings for the game.
Barcelona
Claudio Bravo – 6
The Chilean was not troubled by the Betis side thanks to the dominance of the Catalans. But his skills came to the fore while being called upon to deal with set pieces.
Thomas Vermaelen – 6
He was a picture of calmness and concentration even though his abilities were not tested enough. The counterattacking game of Betis did not work out, as the Belgian proved to be a stumbling block whenever the away side attempted to break forward.
Jeremy Mathieu – 7
The Frenchman played as a left back and successfully warded off the challenge from Alvaro Cejudo to a great extent, making him almost redundant in the right flank. He was also surprisingly effective at the other end, considering that he is used as a centre back usually.
Javier Mascherano – 6.5
He simply did not put a foot wrong in the Barcelona defence. The Argentine was allowed to express himself more, following the arrival of Mark Bartra, and was very effective in the midfield, where he played a large chunk of his career.
Dani Alves – 6
He was given the stiff task of restricting Dani Ceballos and the Spaniard did find some early success when he beat the Brazilian right back far too easily. Alves soon found his feet and was up to the task all the time, following that.
Sergi Roberto – 8
It was an awe-inspiring performance from the youngster who looked very comfortable with the ball at his feet. He linked up well with the forward line, creating many attacks in the process, in the absence of the talismanic Andres Iniesta.
Ivan Rakitic – 7
He was an epitome of solidity throughout the duration of the game. He left the Betis defence scurrying around left, right and centre as he found the Barca forward line at will, on numerous occasions. He proved to be useful while defending too.
Sergio Busquets – 7
The Spain international had an easy outing as he put in a convincing performance at the heart of the Barca midfield. He was able to nip almost all the Betis attacks from the bud. He assisted Luis Suarez with a great through-ball.
Lionel Messi – 8
The iconic footballer marked his 500th appearance in the most spectacular fashion possible, with a wonderfully taken goal after linking up with Neymar Jr. He was responsible for the contentious penalty awarded to Barca after he collided with the Betis goalkeeper. He found it all too easy against a disorganized defence.
Luis Suarez – 8.5
The Uruguayan’s goal-poaching skills came to the fore as he mesmerized the fans with his energy and dribbling, scoring a brace in the process. His pace did not diminish at any stage of the game. His last and Barca’s fourth was a peach of a goal.
Neymar Jr. – 7.5
He was a constant nuisance for the Betis defenders and was brilliant on the ball. The opposition players tried to play it rough against the Brazilian, but to no avail, as he produced two assists. The only blip for him was the missed penalty which he scuffed against the crossbar, but it did not prove to be costly as Westermann put the ball in any way.
Substitutes
Mark Bartra – 6
He came on for Busquets following which he shelled out a good performance in defence. This allowed Mascherano to venture into an advanced role.
Adriano Correia – 6
He replaced Mathieu and gave a torrid time to the Betis right-back. The latter was put under immediate pressure, owing to his consistently great runs forward.
Munir El Haddadi – N/A
He came on late and could not make any impact on the game.
Real Betis
Antonio Adan – 7.5
The rating might come off as a surprise, but had it not been for him Betis would have definitely conceded at least eight goals. He pulled off brilliant saves to deny MSN on many occasions.
Bruno Gonzalez – 5
He was doing extremely well until he was substituted as early as the fifteenth time. A premature injury ended his stay.
Heiko Westermann – 3.5
It was a disastrous performance of the highest order by the German defender who was largely ineffective. The evening turned to be catastrophic for him as his own goal put Barca ahead. He went off injured in the first half, adding to his side’s woes.
Francisco Molinero – 6
He had to counter Neymar’s exploits, and he gave it all by dishing out an inspired performance. The right-back produced a number of tackles, frustrating Mathieu and later, Adriano in the process.
Dani Ceballos – 7
He was arguably the best player of the Real Betis team on the day, going forward. He was sharp as ever and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet. He almost scored when he effortlessly skipped past Dani Alves early on.
Alfred N’Diaye – 5
Even though he had a difficult time around at the Betis midfield some of his tackles were good. But his worst moment was when a horrible pass from him found its way to Busquets which led to Barca’s third goal.
Alvaro Cejudo – 6
He found himself in excellent positions in the right flank, especially towards the fag end of the game. He was one of their key players as they tried to force their way through back in the game.
Petros Matheus – 4
He was rendered ineffective in his midfield role, as his defensive presence was not strong enough. His positioning sense was questionable too as he left a whole lot of space behind him, which was taken advantage of by the opposition.
Juan Vargas – 5
He had a considerably challenging time as he tried to deal with Dani Alves who parked himself firmly in the Betis half. Nevertheless, his game showed a gradual improvement as time passed, and the second half saw a much different self of his.
Ruben Castro – 5
He tried hard to initiate many counterattacks for the team by picking up the ball many times. But as the game wore on, his influence waned off, owing to fatigue.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel – 5
He did well to hold the ball up initially. But his teammates failed to produce a team effort as he found himself isolated many times, and could not play a useful part in the game.
Substitutes
German Pezzella – 5
He replaced the injured Bruno Gonzalez following which he had a largely tough outing, trying to stop the Barca attacks in the first half. But the second half proved to be different as he found his form.
Didier Digard – 5.5
He came in to replace Westermann in what was an unfamiliar position for him. Nevertheless, it was a dedicated effort from him to deny a tough opponent from scoring.
Rafael van der Vaart – N/A
He came on late and could not make any impact on the game.
