A brace from Croatian midfield maestro Ivan Rakitic saw Champions League holders Barcelona come back with all three points from Borisov Arena.
The 2-0 win against Bate Borisov helped the Spanish champions to get three points clear at the top of group E. Another cracker of a match took place between Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma which finished at 4-4. Barcelona are looking assured of going to the knockout stage quite comfortably now.
To everyone’s surprise, Rakitic did not start the game but came on very early as a substitute replacing Sergi Roberto. Bate, who are Belarusian champions for the tenth season running, were totally outplayed by the visitors who dominated possession but were made to wait for 48 minutes by Bate to get past them.
Neymar was the standout performer for Barcelona in the absence of injured Lionel Messi. The Brazilian is playing an instrumental role in the Argentine’s absence. He scored four goals for them in La Liga against Rayo Vallecano last weekend and yesterday, he bagged the assists for both the goals.
Despite the win, fans and the manager will be worried that the injury stricken season for Barcelona has gone worse with another name in the list, Sergi Roberto. Luis Enrique will desperately hope that the extent of the injury is not huge as he is already missing the services of Andres Iniesta, Rafinha and Lionel Messi due to injuries.
Here are Barcelona player ratings against Bate:
Marc-Andre ter Stegen: 3/5
Was mostly a spectator in the game. Did well whenever he was needed but that was very little.
Daniel Alves: 3/5
Was a constant threat from the right-hand side. Crossed plenty of balls and offered the team width.
Marc Bartra: 3.5/5
A dominating display from the Spaniard. Looked assured in possession.
Gerard Pique: 3/5
Did well in defence and looked threatening from corners.
Jordi Alba: 3/5
As usual attacked well from the left side.
Javier Mascherano: 3.5/5
Did justice to his regista role perfectly. His composed display encouraged Alba and Alves to burst forward regularly.
Sergio Busquets: 3.5/5
Did very well in his unfamiliar box to box role. Won back possession and passed well.
Sergi Roberto: NA
Was unlucky to get subbed with an injury early in the game.
Munir El Haddadi: 3/5
Did well apart from the goal. Worked hard and denied by opposition goalkeeper few times.
Luis Suarez: 3/5
Linked up with Neymar very well but could not find the goal. A typical unselfish display from him.
Neymar: 4/5
Did very well to create and provided two assists.
Substitutes
Ivan Rakitic: 4/5
A natural brilliant display from the midfield man. Two goals rewarded his efforts well.
Sandro: 3/5
Did very well for a substitute.
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