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Player Ratings: Barcelona 4-1 Numancia
Barcelona put in a superb second-half display to crush Numancia at the Camp Nou and Goal.com was on hand to rate all the performers...
Jan 24, 2009 5:57:06 PM
BARCELONA
Valdés 5.5 - Hardly had a save to make all evening but lucky that the Numancia goal was ruled out, because he should have done better with the header, and probably could have done more with the free-kick too.
Alves 8 - Has truly turned into one of the best players for Barcelona in recent weeks and yet again this evening he was brilliant. He was up and down the right wing all evening and put in some great crosses, setting up Messi for the first, and linking up well with the front men time and time again.
Puyol 6.5 - Didn't have much to do at the back but did his job well and was strong all night.
Piqué 5.5 - Certainly looked the most susceptible of all the Barcelona defenders and gave away the free-kick that resulted in the goal for Numancia.
Abidal 6.5 - A good display from Abidal who was rarely flashy, but went about his work efficiently and well all evening.
Xavi 6.5 - Another decent performance from the Spaniard who was the middle man for the passes to come to, and through.
Touré 6.5 - Like his partner Xavi he was solid in the middle of the pitch and rarely wasted possession when he had the ball, also tackled well too.
Iniesta 7 - Starting to look like his old self again and tonight he looked comfortable on the ball and made some great jinking runs through the defence. Set up one goal for Eto'o to score from and but for some good defending could have had a couple himself.
Messi 8 - Scored two goals and could have had a few more had it not been for some wayward finishing in the last twenty minutes. Always a threat to the Numancia defence with his darting runs and pace, and grabbed the crucial first goal that set Barcelona on their way to victory.
Eto'o 7 - Put a week of training ground unrest behind him and worked hard for his team this evening. Finishing was a bit haphazard at times and could have had more goals than just the one, nevertheless, it was a good display by the forward.
Henry 6.5 - Always a willing runner up front but tonight he couldn't find the space to fire his shots in and aside from the goal he scored, which took a deflection, he did not have the best match.
SUBS
Busquets 6 - Didn't have enough time to impact the match.
Hleb 5.5 - Only on for a short time but had a few poor touches like in the Copa Del Rey in the week.
Bojan 6 - Not on for long.
NUMANCIA
Juan Pablo 6 - Even though he conceded four times he made some good saves and it could have been worse for his side without him in goal.
Juanra 5.5 - Dealt well with the threat of Henry for most of the evening but on occasions did give the forward too much space at the back.
Ortega 5 - Threw himself around and made some great challenges but after going a goal down he got a bit sloppy and cynically fouled Eto'o late on.
Boris 6.5 - One of the strongest defenders for Numancia on the night, he made some brilliant last ditch tackles and kept the Barcelona forwards in front of him whenever he could.
Bellvis 5 - Couldn't deal with the pace and running of Alves down the wing and got beaten on too many occasions.
Dimas 5.5 - Worked hard to help the defence, making some good tackles and filling in where he needed to, but like many of the other defenders, dropped off after Numancia went behind.
Barkero 6.5 - The creative spark for Numancia and whilst he didn't manage to make too many chances he scored a brilliant free-kick that gave his side hope.
Palacios 4.5 - Didn't assert himself on the match enough and was sent off late on for two silly tackles within a few minutes of each other.
Del Pino 6.5 - Got forward a lot down the wing and also helped his defence out by coming back and picking up the forwards when they attacked.
Nagore 5 - Didn't have the forwards with him to create much and whilst he did tackle well at times he couldn't make much happen at the front.
Goiria 4.5 - Nearly anonymous throughout the match and didn't get the service or the support that he needed.
SUBS
Aranda 5.5 - Tried hard but couldn't add anything as an attacking threat.
Quero 6 - Didn't have the time to create anything.
Gorka Brit 6 - No time at all to add to the game.
James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com
Valdés 5.5 - Hardly had a save to make all evening but lucky that the Numancia goal was ruled out, because he should have done better with the header, and probably could have done more with the free-kick too.
Alves 8 - Has truly turned into one of the best players for Barcelona in recent weeks and yet again this evening he was brilliant. He was up and down the right wing all evening and put in some great crosses, setting up Messi for the first, and linking up well with the front men time and time again.
Puyol 6.5 - Didn't have much to do at the back but did his job well and was strong all night.
Piqué 5.5 - Certainly looked the most susceptible of all the Barcelona defenders and gave away the free-kick that resulted in the goal for Numancia.
Abidal 6.5 - A good display from Abidal who was rarely flashy, but went about his work efficiently and well all evening.
Xavi 6.5 - Another decent performance from the Spaniard who was the middle man for the passes to come to, and through.
Touré 6.5 - Like his partner Xavi he was solid in the middle of the pitch and rarely wasted possession when he had the ball, also tackled well too.
Iniesta 7 - Starting to look like his old self again and tonight he looked comfortable on the ball and made some great jinking runs through the defence. Set up one goal for Eto'o to score from and but for some good defending could have had a couple himself.
Messi 8 - Scored two goals and could have had a few more had it not been for some wayward finishing in the last twenty minutes. Always a threat to the Numancia defence with his darting runs and pace, and grabbed the crucial first goal that set Barcelona on their way to victory.
Eto'o 7 - Put a week of training ground unrest behind him and worked hard for his team this evening. Finishing was a bit haphazard at times and could have had more goals than just the one, nevertheless, it was a good display by the forward.
Henry 6.5 - Always a willing runner up front but tonight he couldn't find the space to fire his shots in and aside from the goal he scored, which took a deflection, he did not have the best match.
SUBS
Busquets 6 - Didn't have enough time to impact the match.
Hleb 5.5 - Only on for a short time but had a few poor touches like in the Copa Del Rey in the week.
Bojan 6 - Not on for long.
NUMANCIA
Juan Pablo 6 - Even though he conceded four times he made some good saves and it could have been worse for his side without him in goal.
Juanra 5.5 - Dealt well with the threat of Henry for most of the evening but on occasions did give the forward too much space at the back.
Ortega 5 - Threw himself around and made some great challenges but after going a goal down he got a bit sloppy and cynically fouled Eto'o late on.
Boris 6.5 - One of the strongest defenders for Numancia on the night, he made some brilliant last ditch tackles and kept the Barcelona forwards in front of him whenever he could.
Bellvis 5 - Couldn't deal with the pace and running of Alves down the wing and got beaten on too many occasions.
Dimas 5.5 - Worked hard to help the defence, making some good tackles and filling in where he needed to, but like many of the other defenders, dropped off after Numancia went behind.
Barkero 6.5 - The creative spark for Numancia and whilst he didn't manage to make too many chances he scored a brilliant free-kick that gave his side hope.
Palacios 4.5 - Didn't assert himself on the match enough and was sent off late on for two silly tackles within a few minutes of each other.
Del Pino 6.5 - Got forward a lot down the wing and also helped his defence out by coming back and picking up the forwards when they attacked.
Nagore 5 - Didn't have the forwards with him to create much and whilst he did tackle well at times he couldn't make much happen at the front.
Goiria 4.5 - Nearly anonymous throughout the match and didn't get the service or the support that he needed.
SUBS
Aranda 5.5 - Tried hard but couldn't add anything as an attacking threat.
Quero 6 - Didn't have the time to create anything.
Gorka Brit 6 - No time at all to add to the game.
James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com
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