There’s no such thing as a friendly when it comes to Barcelona and Real Madrid, but in Dallas Texas, the two rivals met for El Clasico Americano.
Barcelona took the lead in the 14th minute, with a beautifully worked freekick, that led to Dembele firing the La Liga champions in front. For the second game in a row, Barce conceded a penalty and for the second game in a row, it was missed. This time Vini Jr hits the crossbar.
Real Madrid piled on the pressure but a late stunner by Fermin Lopez and a goal from Ferran Torres made Barcelona comfortable 3-0 winners on the night.
Goalkeeper
Marc-André ter Stegen – 8
Made an outstanding save from Rodrygo in the first half, and was named man of the match on the night. He controls his area as well as anyone, and while he’s not an elite keeper in the air, he’s an outstanding shot stopped and he showed that against tonight. His ball distribution is always fantastic.
Defenders
Ronald Araujo – 6 (75 minutes)
I think it’s abundantly clear that we still need a right back who Xavi trusts completely, for as good as Araujo is, that’s not his best spot. Left a lot of space for Vini Jr to run into which is always dangerous. Although his ball distribution was excellent and some of his cross-field balls started Barca attacks. Also gave the penalty away.
Jules Koundé – 7
Gave away a couple of needless fouls, but he always did just enough and sometimes that’s all you need to do. Positioning wise, he was very good, decent ball distribution. Had a few shaky moments towards the end, but in his preferred centre back role, he did a good enough job.
Andreas Christensen – 6 (28 minutes)
Was replaced by Eric Garcia before the half an hour mark. Started well, showed good positioning, played deep to counter the speed of Real Madrid and was always comfortable on the ball. Not sure why he was substituted early as he didn’t appear to have an injury.
Alejandro Balde – 7 (75 minutes)
The one player who was willing to inject some pace into the attack, we didn’t see a lot of end product, but we did see a lot of intent. Carvajal really didn’t like Balde running at him and on a different day, he may have had more success. Another good outing for him in his return from injury.
Eric Garcia – 6
Came on in the first half and did a really nice job. He’s still not good enough in the air, but I’m still not convinced that he’s Barca quality. He doesn’t have the same positioning sense as some of the others at the club.
Sergino Dest – 3
I mean do I really need to pile on? He got Vni Jr against him and it was a complete mismatch. Vini glided past him like he wasn’t even there. Dest is simply not good enough to start for a team who have Champions League aspirations.
Marcos Alonso – 6
I didn’t actually see him do much once he came on. Wasn’t on long enough to impact the game.
Midfielders
Frenkie de Jong – 8 (75 minutes)
Thought this was a really strong game for De Jong, he was always in the right place at the right time. Often intercepted passes in the Barca box and controlled the tempo well throughout. Played that deeper role and did a good job dictating the play.
Oriol Romeu – 7 (75 minutes)
A much better game for Romeu playing next to de Jong as a double pivot. Got on the ball more, and looked more confident in linking play. Showed off his strength by winning the ball back on a number of occasions. Definitely a much better outing than his 45 minutes against Arsenal.
ilkay Gundogan – 6 (42 minutes)
Came off with an apparent groin injury. Subdued game by his standards, struggled to impact proceedings and didn’t really link the midfield with the attack. Did nothing wrong, but didn’t stand out. It’s been a quiet start to his Barcelona career after joining from Manchester City.
Pedri – 6 (65 minutes)
Struggled to get on the same page as Dembele at times despite setting him up for his goal. He was as tidy on the ball as you expect him to be. Moved the play on well, and rarely lost the ball, but didn’t create as much as you’d like him to.
Sergi Roberto – 6
Was late to pick up Joselu which should have led to a goal. He was tidy enough on the ball, he assisted the Lopez goal, but a lack of pace tracking back ended up getting Romeu booked. I like Roberto but you don’t want him playing too much against Real Madrid this year.
Fermin Lopez – 9 (MY STAR MAN)
Scored an absolute stunner to beat Courtois from outside the box and then registered an assist on a beautiful pass through to Ferran Torres. You can’t do much more than Fermin Lopez did in the time he was on the pitch. We heard from Pedri that Lopez was special, and we’re starting to see that.
Forwards
Robert Lewandowski – 6 (75 minutes)
Lewandowski was a complete nuisance throughout the game and I mean that in the best way. Made a number of intelligent runs which were wasted. Always willing to do the running and out a shift in defensively, challenged for every ball. Didn’t really have a sight of goal for the second game in a row.
Ousmane Dembélé – 7 (65 minutes)
Scored a well-worked goal in the first half and was a constant threat down the right-hand side. Did miss a good opportunity to put Barca up 2-0 in the first half with a 1-v-1 with Courtois. Not all his flicks came off, but he showed his value to the team, and why Barca should do everything they can to keep him amidst PSG’s interest.
Raphinha – 6
Didn’t do a great deal when he came on. You can always rely on Raphinha to put in a shift and that’s exactly what he did, alongside Fati, Torres and Lopez.
Ansu Fati – 7
Fati really looks motivated to get back to his best. It was his press which led to the Real Madrid turnover, which in turn led to a stunning strike from Fermin Lopez. Didn’t have a lot of time to impact the game, but he made the most of the little time he had.
Ferran Torres – 7
Two games, two goals for Ferran Torres. Took his goal really well to nip the ball past Courtois. Not the most stylish goal, but incredibly well-taken and this is just a confidence builder.