Barcelona
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen: 6/10
Returning to play against his hometown and home club of 18 years, the German did not have an embarrassing moment nor did he have anything to boast about. Did not have many saves to make, nor could he have done anything about the goal.
Jordi Alba: 6/10
Not as adventurous as he would liked to have been, this was a game when Alba needed to be at the top of his defensive game and he did so. Goes on to show what an all rounder he is.
Alba did put in one cross into the box which Neymar got on the end of, but hit it straight to the goalkeeper.
Gerard Pique: 7.5/10
Pique had a few shaky moments initially when Gladbach thrust themselves forward with full force but was able to weather the storm. Showed great awareness to place the ball into the net after Sommer’s mishandle.
Javier Mascherano: 6/10
Not an assuring presence in the first half, Mascherano grew in confidence in the second half. The Argentine intercepted a potential Fabian Johnson one-on-one attempt which would have given the American a clear shot on goal late in the game.
Sergi Roberto: 7/10
The only Barca defender to have a good first half. Roberto showed great skill to rob the ball off Raffael in the 9th minute as the latter was almost through on goal. Contributed going forward for Barcelona a few times in the game.
Sergio Busquets: 5.5/10
Far from his best in the second half, it is a rare occurrence to see Busquets lose the ball like he did in the build up to Gladbach’s goal. The Spaniard was better in the second half but his performance was still a bit disappointing.
Andres Iniesta: 6/10
Although he did not provide a moment of extraordinary magic, Iniesta did nothing to help Barca’s cause either. The Barcelona captain kept the game flowing with a few simple touches which helped regain his side’s rhythm once the second half was underway.
Ivan Rakitic: 6/10
The Croatian a shot blocked by Sommer in the 23rd minute and provided an excellent lobbed pass to Suarez towards the end of the first half. His substitution was justified as it was the match winner who he replaced. Rakitic put in a decent performance and tried his best to influence the game but was not unable to do so.
Neymar: 6/10
The Brazilian attacker provided an exquisite lob for the equaliser. He tried to use his bag of tricks to effect, but was well shackled by the Gladbach unit.
Luis Suarez: 6/10
Suarez’s unselfish play almost proved to be too costly for Barcelona as they lost out on a goal which he regularly converts, but instead tried to lay it on a plate for Alcacer.
The Uruguayan missed a chance in the 11th minute from a position which he is usually deadly from. Ultimately it was his shot from a corner that Sommer failed to clear, for the Catalans’ winning goal.
Paco Alcacer: 5/10
Alcacer put in a very disappointing performance against Gladbach, after he was chosen ahead of Rafinha. Completely anonymous in the first half, his early substitution bore fruit for Barca as they were able to get on better without him in the side.
Substitutes
Rafinha Alcantara: 6.5/10
Rafinha helped inject pace into a dreary and slow Barcelona unit. Alcantara's pace posed a different challenge to Gladbach which helped shake things up for the Catalans
Arda Turan: 8/10
The former Atletico man completely turned the tide towards Barca with his introduction. The combination of his pace, strength and trickery proved too much for Gladbach to handle as he rifled in the equaliser.
Turan almost killed the game off with an exquisite lob which almost caught Sommer off guard. A fantastic half an hour from the Turk.
