Barcelona player ratings from 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid

It was a tale of two halves at Camp Nou, as Karim Benzema‘s hat-trick stunned Barcelona and booked Real Madrid’s place in the Copa del Rey final.

Coming off three straight wins against Los Blancos, Barça headed into the Copa del Rey tie with a goal advantage from the first leg. They began the match with a dominant first half, and despite going down 0-1 at halftime, Xavi’s men were clearly the better side for the first 45. The second period, however, was a completely different story, as the home support saw their team falter and concede three more goals.

Of course, Barcelona fielded an XI that was missing several key players: Pedri, Ousmane Dembélé, Andreas Christensen, and Frenkie de Jong. However, as Xavi himself pointed out, this was not an excuse, and it should never be used as one.

There were a few standout performers in the first half, but unfortunately, their form didn’t carry over late. Let’s take a look at the individual performances of each Barcelona player:

Marc-André Ter Stegen (6/10)

Honestly, not much he could’ve done to salvage this result. His distribution in the first half was quite good (although he shrunk a bit in the second half as well). He did produce a great save against Marco Asensio, but he guessed wrong on Karim Benzema’s penalty in the 58th minute. As far as the other goals are concerned, Ter Stegen never had much of a chance to foil Real Madrid’s attempts. As good as he’s been this season, he’s not a miracle worker.

Ronald Araújo (6.5/10)

While he was one of the better performers tonight (isn’t he always?) he didn’t have a match to write home about. He did defend Vinicius Jr. as capably as he could, but he wasn’t as decisive and influential in the match as he usually is. On several occasions, Vinicius got the better of him and dribbled past him. Going forward, he was a bit more aggressive than usual, even trying a shot in the box. However, not great tonight.

Jules Koundé (5/10)

Solid, with good positioning, interceptions, and passing – in the first half. As the game went on, however, he shrank more and more. He was also dribbled past a few times by Vinicius, which led to the last goal of the night. He had a horrible missed clearance, which he completely misjudged, that almost directly led to a Benzema goal.

Marcos Alonso (5/10)

Marcos Alonso was, from the very beginning, concerning. His play out from the back was decent for the first 40 minutes and he was more or less solid defensively. However, he was outpaced several times by Rodrygo, and looked shaky near the end of the first half. His error directly led to the first goal for Madrid when he ran way forward in a foolhardy attempt to stop Rodrygo at the halfway line. He arrived late, Rodrygo skipped past him, and it was a 3 on 2 break for Madrid. He was subbed out in the 66th minute for Eric García.

Alejandro Balde (8/10)

It’s hard to give anyone a good rating for this match, but I honestly believe Balde was our best player tonight. He was electric as always, pushing the pace and our offensive game forward. He didn’t commit any grave defensive mistakes, he looked really good going forward, and even forced a save or two out of Thibaut Courtois. Overall, I’d go so far as to say it was a good showing for the young left-back, despite the result.

Franck Kessié (6.5/10)

His first half was remarkable. He was strong in all facets of the game. He barely lost possession, he defended well, and he barely put a foot wrong in the first 45. However, in the second 45, he put one huge foot wrong, clearly fouling Vinicius in the box and gifting Madrid a penalty. As per the rest of the team, he shrank in the second half, especially when Madrid went up 0-2. He would be subbed out for Ansu Fati in the 59th minute.

Sergi Roberto (5/10)

A somewhat decent start, capped off by an exploratory shot attempt that would end up blocked by a defender. After that… a whole lot of nothing. Did decently in possession, but was slow to recover on Luka Modrić, which led to the second goal of the night. Didn’t flash much of anything good, and had a few giveaways and bad out-of-position moments.

Sergio Busquets (6/10)

A few costly turnovers (can someone tell him Modrić is right behind him?). He did also misplace a few passes that he really shouldn’t have. However, mediocre showing overall. He did spray a few nice passes around and had a couple of good moments. Nothing great, nothing terrible.

Gavi (6/10)

Gavi was his usual feisty self, getting into it with Vinicius a few times and taking a few tactical fouls where needed. For the first 10 minutes, he was invisible on the pitch, but soon picked it up. Going forward, made a few nice through balls and a few good passes to Balde out on the wing. Nevertheless, every Barça player had a similar match: starting off well, only to shrink as the match wore on. By the end of the match, his performance wasn’t the best.

Raphinha (7/10)

Another performance that I thought was a bit better than decent. He had a few successful dribbles and threatened Courtois a few times, especially in the first 30 minutes. He showed some character, at least, and pressured high and well. He tracked back well defensively, as he is used to doing. He also showcased a nice first touch on several long passes. However, he did lose the ball quite a few times, and wasn’t able to quite win the battle on the right side against Eduardo Camavinga. A mixed bag, but definitely not the worst player out there tonight.

Robert Lewandowski (5/10)

Something must come over players when they sign for Barcelona that forbids them from just attempting shots on goal when they’ve got a chance. Lewandowski had a few golden opportunities in the first half to at least get a shot off, but he failed to do so. He did have a good attempt that forced a great save from Courtois, and his hold-up and link-up play in the first half was quite good. However, another disappointing showing from him. They needed more.

Ansu Fati (6/10)

Ansu came on in the 59th minute and showed a little bit of wiggle and pace. He tried a few interesting passes and a dummy that didn’t quite work out, but you can’t blame him for trying. Apart from that, he didn’t do much of anything. Wasn’t quite a ghost in the match, but certainly wasn’t as involved as you’d like.

Ferran Torres (2/10)

Ferran came on in the 66th minute and proceeded to do nothing. By nothing, I don’t mean that he was invisible like Ansu and Sergi Roberto were; he was actively quite bad. He lost possession way too easily, misplaced almost every pass, and couldn’t complete a dribble to save his life. He had a chance to attempt a fairly open shot and didn’t take it, instead looping in a bad cross. The only thing he did in a halfway decent manner was take a couple of semi-dangerous free kicks. However, to sum it up:

Eric García (6/10)

He also came on in the 66th minute, but none of the goals were his fault and there wasn’t really anything he could’ve done on the last one. His passing forward was fine, as it usually is, but not much else to say about his performance, as he didn’t have much prominence.

Suffice to say, this wasn’t a good match for FC Barcelona, even if the result was just a tad bit unfair. The truth is, they didn’t deserve to win after falling apart at the start of the second half. The whole team went from mighty to mouse, and the result showed that for Barça the mental game is still just as important as the physical. All that’s left now to do for Xavi’s men is focus on La Liga and make sure the season ends with a title.