Borussia Monchengladbach 1-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings

7. It feels like the same old drill for Ter Stegen. He’s not often busy as Barcelona controls possession, but the odd defensive slip exposes him. The German wasn’t at fault for Gladbach’s goal, and again wasn’t really bothered otherwise.. GK. Barcelona. MARC ANDRE TER STEGEN

6. It was a less influential day for Roberto as his defensive duties were more important today due to Gladbach’s counter-attacking ability. He made the odd run forward, and, as per usual, when Barça controls the ball, he gets in on the passing. A fine performance, but nothing more.. RB. Barcelona. SERGI ROBERTO

8.5. Always the composed, methodical center back, Pique was a calming influence for Barcelona after going 1-0 down when Javier Mascherano was somewhat erratic next to him. Made things even better when his persistence paid off, scoring the winner in ugly yet emphatic fashion. Good showing again.. CB. Barcelona. GERARD PIQUE (MOTM)

CB. Barcelona. JAVIER MASCHERANO. 6.5. It’s been a bad couple of weeks for Mascherano. Today, it wasn’t his defensive error leading to the goal, but he still didn’t have a great day. Often nervy in defense, he’s lucky to have someone like Pique behind for backup. However, he still made five tackles and was very good passing out of the back as always. Lost half a point due to a needless tackle that earned him a yellow card.

Like Roberto, Alba was forced to do more defending than usual, but was still as involved as ever moving forward, and made some good runs. Did nothing wrong on the day, but was slightly better than the right-sided fullback for Barça.. LB. Barcelona. JORDI ALBA. 6.5

SERGIO BUSQUETS. 6.5. Busquets will be happy that his side turned the match around, because it was his mistake in possession that allowed Gladbach to strike on the counter. That took him down half a point, but otherwise he had his usual type of performance, under the radar but influential. Remains one of Barcelona’s most important players.. CDM. Barcelona

6. Rakitic put in his usual hard work, and contributed well to the cause. However, he was pulled with about 30 minutes to go in order to get more creativity on in Arda Turan, and it worked like a charm. It’s a shame that he has to make way, but sometimes that’s how it goes. Still, he did nothing wrong today, but wasn’t too important.. CM. Barcelona. IVAN RAKITIC

ANDRES INIESTA. 7. Slowly (and I mean very slowly) eased into the game, but came alive in the last 25 minutes or so. Always looking to create, he and Neymar worked very hard on the left side to get the attack into a rhythm that it was missing for much of the game. Incredible that a 32-year-old that runs so much has the legs to improve late in the game, but never doubt the majestic player that is Andres Iniesta.. CM. Barcelona

8. Neymar is Barcelona’s most important player in attack without Messi, as the ball always seems to go through him. Today was a tough day for him in the box, as he could never find space to get off a good shot or pass. However, late on, his lovely chip found Arda Turan for the equalizer, and the comeback was on. Though it was hard at times, it was still a good performance from Neymar.. . Barcelona. NEYMAR

LUIS SUAREZ. 6.5. Has to be credited for not losing his cool, because the frustration for Suarez was visible throughout the game, and this would have been a moment for one of his trademark transgressions. Despite the credit for that, it was another difficult day for Suarez. It’s great to see a striker with such a great assist record, but early in the match, he tried to slip the ball to Paco instead of shooting when in alone on goal, and the ball was cleared. Needs to be more selfish.. ST. Barcelona

Barcelona. PACO ALCACER. 5. Still struggling to find his feet, today was an even tougher one for Paco because of the lack of a defined role. When Messi is in, Barcelona’s front line plays fluid, interchanging football. That was clearly the idea, but Paco couldn’t seem to grasp that Neymar and Suarez would be in the center at times, and he needed to float wide. Rightfully substituted for Rafinha who provided more width, pace and creativity..

It was a good cameo from Rafinha, and maybe looked so good only because he replaced the sluggish Paco. Nevertheless, he did a good job pushing forward on the right wing, and though he wasn’t involved in any goals, his change of pace made a big difference.. RW. Barcelona. RAFINHA (54') . 7

ARDA TURAN (58'). 8. A great appearance from the bench from Arda as, even in a deeper role on the right side, he was able to push on and score on a wonderful half-volley. He may find it hard to crack the starting 11 on a normal basis, but he seems to function well as a super-sub.. CM. Barcelona

Whether it was a lack of awareness from Paco or an unwillingness from the striker to play fluid, Enrique should have known better than to start him and Suarez together, as they didn’t look comfortable with each other up top. However, both of the manager’s substitutions proved vital, and changed the game.. Manager. Barcelona. LUIS ENRIQUE. 7