Barcelona vs Athletic Club Player Ratings as Robert Lewandowski saves the day for the Culés at Camp Nou
Barcelona nearly squandered it all at home when hosting Athletic Club. If it was not Robert Lewandowski scoring with 15 minutes left in normal time, Blaugrana would let the visitors head home to Basque with a point in hand. The victory itself put Barca to collect six points from two matches but due to the goal deficit, the top spot belonged to Celta Vigo.
Barcelona Player Ratings vs Athletic Club
Goalkeeper
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (6.8/10): Prevented some of the Club’s chances despite conceding one from penalty.
Defenders
Jules Kounde (6.7/10): Effectively played down the midfield to add more options to Barca’s attacking game.
Pau Cubarsi (6.9/10): Firmly defended the box area alongside Martinez.
Iñigo Martínez (7/10): Led his fellow defenders to stick together defending the net from another conceding.
Alejandro Balde (6.5/10): Helped Pedri and Ferran to form a threat for Athletic.
Midfielders
Marc Bernal (6.8/10): Gained more playing time for the youngster.
Pedri (7.4/10): Supplied killer balls for the frontlines including Ferran Torres.
Raphinha (8.3/10): Backed Lewandowski from the second line, providing passes for other teammates.
Forwards
Lamine Yamal (7.9/10): Caused havoc in Athletic’s defence area, including scoring an opener in the first half.
Ferran Torres (7.5/10): Roaming down the left side of the attacking line of Barcelona.
Robert Lewandowski (6.1/10): Found it hard to break the opponent’s defence.
Substitutions
Fermin Lopez (6.5/10): Came in to give Barcelona fresh legs
Eric Garcia (6.7/10): He was instructed to keep the midfield under control when replacing Bernal
Gerard Martin (N/A):
Pau Victor (N/A
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Athletic Club Player Ratings vs Barcelona
Goalkeeper
Álex Padilla (6.7/10): Had several important chances to keep his goal net from conceding more.
Defenders
Yuri Berchiche (6.5/10): Provided Nico Williams accurate passes to create chances.
Yeray Álvarez (7.2/10): Worked hard to prevent the opponents from scoring more goals.
Dani Vivian (6.4/10): Defending the area with all his best dealing with Barcelona’s pacey attackers.
Iñigo Lekue (6.8/10): Linking up with the likes of Benat Prados and Alex Berenguer to form an effective attacking plan.
Midfielders
Mikel Vesga (6.4/10): Guarding the midfield area well amid the pressure from Barcelona’s world-class midfielders.
Beñat Prados (6.6/10): Winning some duels in the midfield to eventually provide the ball for Oihan Sancet and Williams
Oihan Sancet (7.1/10): Put his side leveled from the spot minutes before the first half ended.
Forwards
Nico Williams (6.8/10): One of the most marked players, making it difficult to launch shots to the target.
Alejandro Berenguer Remiro (7.2/10): Struggled to tear down the Barcelona defence.
Iñaki Williams (6.8/10): Led his attacking side to find the back of the net against Barcelona at Camp Nou
Substitutions
Unai Gomez (6.6/10): Replacing Sancet who played well was not an easy job but he did it somehow.
Mikel Jauregizar (6.5/10): Coming on to keep balance in the midfield.
Malcolm Ares (6.4/10): He was expected to at least score another goal which he did not.
Ander Herrera (6.5/10): Keep the composure in the midfield, focused on helping Athletic to steal a point from Camp Nou.
Gorka Guruzeta (6.5/10): When Inaki failed to score any goal, Guruzeta came to solve the issue but he also failed to do so.
