Barca rating - My humble opinion
Valdes - 8 Was not tested as much as we would have expected him to be but he did well with whatever Atletico threw at him
Dani - 5 Should really have started Montoya instead. Absolutely bullied by felipe luis , making our jordi at LB look like a minnow compared to his opposite number.
Pique - 8 A solid rock at the back, showing that if he remains focus and attention he is really one of the best at CB. But these performances can be few and far apart.
Masch - 7 Quick in tackling but rash at the same time, snuffed out some dangerous attacks and put it to bed with split second closing downs. Lucky not be sent off.
Jordi - 7 Very lop sided as a lot of attacking came from this flank, while dani's flank was almost fruitless in attack. Did some good defending as well.
Sergio - 8 Nervy start that saw him conceded a few careless possesions but warmed up to the game and was his usual self after that. He makes Alba and Masch (Left side) look like formidable defensive area as he helped out a lot. However if Arda/Gabi got pass sergio its almost a good chance being created each and every time. That is how crucial Sergio is to us.
Iniesta - 6 Contributed to the attack but was not advanced enough to deal damage, often as deep as xavi, at times deeper, as he had to come out of the congested two lines of 4 to retrieve posession. Partnership with jordi is as if jordi has never been injured at all. Credits to both players.
Xavi - 8 Rarely gave up posession and was key in recycling possession and spraying plays, but IMO too conservative in attacking play, often playing sideways and not forwards. However it is a double edged sword as more direct plays results in more open play and competition for loose balls, and atleti are superior in this aspect and can turn on the counter and hurt us. The way xavi played in this game is probably a more conservative tactic from Tata.
Alexis - 5 With Dani, formed our almost useless right flank, esp in the first half. If any of them were more effective, we would be able to pin Gabi and Luis back and they would not have hurt us that much on the counter. Same reason Costa was comparatively, to his own high standards, below par because alba and iniesta (1st 45) or alba/xavi (2nd 45) was further up the field and costa had to defend.
*Same goes to Villa who again, sergio pretty much dealt with much ease. El Guaje is, sadly, a shadow of himself.
Cesc - 6 As a false 9 in the 1st half, did not have space to produce anything, and often drifted wide, esp to the right, that congested what little space alexis can exploit, although i doubt if alexis had the space could have dealt much more damage judging by his form in this match.
Pedro - 7 Our most dangerous player in the first half, and worked really hard throughout 90 minutes, in 2nd half very much neutralised the influence of felipe after shifting to the right but dani's failure to keep track of arda turan means a lot of atleti's attack still came from the left. While pedro drifted to the right after neymar came on, we can almost immediately see the difference in susceptibility to atleti's attack on our left flank, diego costa, diego godin and koke started to outplay busquets and alba. Neymar is simply not as good as pedro when it comes to tracking back and shielding the wing.
Subs
Messi - 7 Did with what little service he had and made 2 glorious chances, although i thought if he had not headed the ball (which went wide0, pedro was in a superb position behind him, and i will not have it against pedro to score in that position. But hey, a lot of what ifs.. Thats what makes the game beautiful eh? A fraction here or there it would've been anybody's game.
Neymar - 6 Had pace down the flank and end product was found wanting, a lot better towards the end of the game when he tried drifting into the middle instead of running to the byline. Chemistry with messi has a lot to be desired.
Sergi roberto - 5 Good exposure for him i guess, but first touch often let him down.
Tata - Very brave to have started without messi/neymar but i did not expect messi to be introduced that soon. I hope Iniesta is not injured.. Which may explain the early substitution. Neymar could have came on first for iniesta, and running diego godin tired before bringing messi on at about 70 minutes when atleti getting tired will be ideal. While Song could have been brought on instead of Sergi? To match the steel of gabi, Arda and Costa and also i find that Song suits us when we are playing counter attacking, which is good when atleti seems more eager to get all 3 points. Our best chance, messi's shot saved by curtois was from a counter attack. Song can intercept balls higher up the pitch and find xavi or fab, or even find one of the front 3 guys which he does occasionally, which launches a counter attack.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. I am not a professional manager/player. I am just a long time hardcore Barca fan. Guys please give me your opinions as well, if you do not agree do shed light. I wish I could do this more often as posts in this thread has gone very much void of discussions and debate.
Regardless, Hala Barca!
I mean, Visca el Barca!
This post has been edited by myhotgary2: Jan 13 2014, 06:01 AM 
Aug 19 2013, 12:16 AM, updated 12y ago
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the only problem is he don't usually start in big match, nvm.... the game end in 1-1 also
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