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Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings

By Laieke Abebe

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JANUARY 21: Head coach Diego Pablo Simeone (L) of Club Atletico de Madrid shakes hands with Head coach Luis Enrique Martinez of FC Barcelona during the Copa del Rey Quarter-Final First Leg match between FC Barcelona and Club Atletico de Madrid at Camp Nou on January 21, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - JANUARY 21: Head coach Diego Pablo Simeone (L) of Club Atletico de Madrid shakes hands with Head coach Luis Enrique Martinez of FC Barcelona during the Copa del Rey Quarter-Final First Leg match between FC Barcelona and Club Atletico de Madrid at Camp Nou on January 21, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona found a way to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. Here are the player ratings for the match.

After a very tight match between two of Spain’s best football club’s, it was the Catalans who emerged victorious. A late Lionel Messi winner (again) allow Barcelona to steal the three points from a feisty Atletico Madrid side. Here are the player ratings for the match at the Calderon.

Goalkeeper

Marc Andre ter Stegen (8.5)

Where would Barca be without the German keeper. He made a lot of top-class saves throughout the match. The one goal that was allowed was due to the bad set piece marking. Overall, ter Stegen has kept his run of excellent form going.

Defenders

Sergi Roberto (5)

Due to Luis Enrique’s formation change, Roberto was playing more in the midfield than at right-back. However, he still didn’t play well despite the adjustment. In addition, he didn’t attack with a purpose during the match.

Samuel Umtiti (6.5)

Umtiti had a very solid match in central defense. Once again, he must get better on the ball with his passing and dribbling under pressure.

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Gerard Pique (7)

Pique provided Barca with some chances from set pieces. In defense, he did enough to hold off the talented Atletico attack.

Jeremy Mathieu (5.5)

Mathieu did what Lucho told him to do when he was out there. However, once again the injury bug has struck him. An ankle injury forced a substitution with 15 minutes to go.

Midfielders

Andres Iniesta (6)

This was a rare off match for Don Andres. He couldn’t match the power of the Atletico Madrid midfield. Ivan Rakitic eventually replaced the Spaniard in the second half.

Rafinha (7.5)

Considering that the injury bug hasn’t been kind to Rafinha, it’s great to see him make a contribution. His goal was created out of nothing, but it put Barca in front 1-0.

Sergio Busquets (5)

In addition to Iniesta, Busquets has a very dismal performance against Atletico. He consistently caused turnovers that led to many breaks for Atleti. Sergio also conceded the free-kick that led to the equalizer by Diego Godin.

Forwards

Neymar (8)

For the most part, Neymar was the best outfielder player for Barca. He attacked the great Atleti defense with aggression. It resulted in many fouls leading to set piece opportunities for Barca.

Lionel Messi (8)

Once again, Messi makes the difference for Barcelona. Add another late winner to his collection over the last week. The first one was against Leganes and now the one yesterday against Atletico Madrid. How do you stop him?

Luis Suarez (6)

El Pistolero had many opportunities to score goals. However, he couldn’t finish any of them. He is certainly lacking confidence after he recently had a good run of form.

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Manager

Luis Enrique (7)

Lucho adjusted his formation to a 3-4-3 instead of his normal 4-3-3. It was an interesting decision that somewhat paid off due to the match result (and Messi). Who knows? Maybe we’ll see this formation in a match soon.