Alaves 0-6 Barcelona—Player Ratings

Barcelona. MARC ANDRE TER STEGEN. 7.5. Did really well to cut out the angle when Theo Hernandez was clean through on the break, and that save preserved the 0-0 score at the time. Made another good save about 65 minutes in, not that it mattered up 4-0!. GK

8. Played a stupendous ball across the face of goal to Luis Suarez that finished off a sweeping move for the opening goal, provided an outlet for much of the game on the right and was defensively solid. Quickly turning from a flop to a dependable right back option.. RB. Barcelona. ALEIX VIDAL

6.5. Definitely the better of the two French center backs, but like his compatriot Umtiti had little to do. A yellow card early on looked like it could hamper Umtiti, but he kept his composure and put in a solid shift without being too busy.. CB. Barcelona. SAMUEL UMTITI

Barcelona. JEREMY MATHIEU. 6. The walking French calamity didn’t have too much to do, and so he avoided mistakes. Jokes aside, Mathieu handled himself well filling in at the back, and should gain some confidence moving forward. He was caught out because of his lack of pace a couple of times though, which is always a risk you run by playing him.. CB

Barcelona. LUCAS DIGNE. 6. He made one really good tackle in the box when the game still seemed like it wasn’t done and dusted. Much of the attack generated from Vidal and Messi on the right, but Digne did well when on the ball. It wasn’t his best, but the young French fullback is a good option behind Jordi Alba.. LB

8. Ray Hudson will be upset I didn’t give Busquets an 11/10, but Busquets was at his usual quiet brilliance. The way he passes and dictates the tempo of the game can’t be bettered than anyone else in Europe right now, and it was on full display. He was given a deserved rest after just over an hour of good work.. CDM. Barcelona. SERGIO BUSQUETS

It hasn’t been an ideal start to 2017, but Rakitic played quite well despite not being much of a focal point. He worked hard, did his defensive duties, and best of all sent a beauty of a shot into the corner for Barcelona’s fifth.. CM. Barcelona. IVAN RAKITIC. 7

6.5. Gomes is no Andres Iniesta, so when he plays instead of the Barcelona legend there is a shortage of creativity coming from that similar role they play. Still though, Gomes did fine and played some dangerous passes, but didn’t shine as much as others did.. CM. Barcelona. ANDRE GOMES

RW. Barcelona. LIONEL MESSI. 8.5. What else can you say? He scored a goal, he spearheaded attacks, he’s everywhere, that Lionel Messi. It wasn’t his finest game ever, but it would have been great for anyone else not named Messi. There’s not much else to it.

9. Suarez looked frustrated early on as Barcelona couldn’t find the breakthrough, but once the attack began flowing, Suarez was at the heart of it. Two goals, two assists, and a well-deserved man of the match for the Uruguayan who was in the news for the wrong reasons after receiving a Copa del Rey ban. Good to see him put that in the past.. ST. Barcelona. LUIS SUAREZ (MOTM)

8. Neymar looked to be the most likely to break the 0-0 deadlock when Alaves had the bus parked and the tires taken off early on. He looked dangerous, and though not everything came off, he got his goal and had a pretty good day overall.. LW. Barcelona. NEYMAR

Iniesta got a nice 30 minute cameo in place of Sergio Busquets, and did well, but with the game already well out of Alaves’ reach, the Spaniard wasn’t called upon to do too much, he really just kept control in the midfield and saw the game out.. CM. Barcelona. ANDRES INIESTA. 6

Barcelona. SERGI ROBERTO. N/A. He came on relatively late with little to do, so a grade isn’t truly necessary. Like Iniesta, he just saw the game out.. CM

N/A. Saw the game out on defense, and did little more late on.. LB. Barcelona. JORDI ALBA

Struck a good balance despite his entire back line (minus Umtiti, sort of) deputizing for the normal four. The rest of the XI pretty much picked itself, but it was a good performance from Barca and obviously some of that must be attributed to coaching.. Manager. Barcelona. LUIS ENRIQUE. 8