Pedri 9.0, Yamal 8.5 | Barcelona 1-0 Alaves: Player ratings | OneFootball

FC Barcelona manage to overcome Deportivo Alaves and get a much-needed win at home. With this victory, La Blaugrana have secured three very crucial points in La Liga. Now, after quite some time, Barcelona are gradually closing the gap at the top of the table.

Ultimately, it took the combined brilliance of both Lamine Yamal and Pedri to drag Barça out of this game that was getting increasingly more worrying as time went on. Finally, Robert Lewandowski managed to be the player who ended up breaking the deadlock and winning the game.

Here are the player ratings for Barcelona.

Player Ratings:

Wojciech Szczesny: 7.5

Did not do much wrong and played alongside his high-line rather well today. Also had a sense of confidence and control about the balls that did manage to reach his hands or come his way near the end of the game.

Jules Kounde: 7.0

The Frenchman did well to help out Lamine Yamal as much as possible on the attack, and kept his defensive duties in mind as well. A solid performance from the fullback both going forward and staying back. However, his passing options were often quite limited by the opposition, who did not find too many hurdles in doing so either.

Ronald Araujo: 7.5

The Uruguayan defender had a solid first half, and did his best in terms of snuffing out any chances that Alaves tried to conjure. However, perhaps due to a tactical reason, he was replaced at half-time by Eric Garcia. Did manage to hold the offside trap quite well as well.

Pau Cubarsi: 8.0

A bit more passive than usual in terms of his passing, but was just as active in terms of his defending. Solid outing for the young Spaniard, who did not feel too threatened by the Alaves attackers. However, his participation in setting the offside traps were simply perfect.

Alejandro Balde: 7.0

Always eager to move forward, and he had a good few moments where his dribbling came in handy. However, Alaves were rather effective in terms of shutting down most of his attempts to create something from the left flank.

Marc Casado: 6.5

Eager and intense in the first 45 minutes, Marc Casado was trying to keep up with Alaves. Unfortunately, however, Barcelona simply could not manage to retain control of the game as much as they would have liked, and he ended up being changed at half-time with Frenkie de Jong coming on.

Pedri: 9.0

Simply the point of difference for Barcelona today. While most people will look at Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski for giving Barça what they needed, and rightfully so, Pedri’s involvement must still not be overlooked. When the team looked to be out of ideas, it was always the Spaniard who made things happen.

Lamine Yamal: 8.5

Simply magical in the way that he was whenever the ball reached his feet, and he often left the defenders trailing in the dust. One run in particular from him was simply unbelievable, where he left around half the Alaves team tripping over themselves trying to catch him. Played a direct part in helping Barcelona get their first goal as well.

Gavi: 6.0

Had to be substituted early in the game due to a head collision. Despite the player wanting to come back on, both the coaches and the medical staff decided to send Fermin Lopez on instead.

Raphinha: 7.0

A rather quiet outing by his standards, and understandably those are some high standards this season. Still, managed to put in a good shift against Alaves and his link-up play was quite sublime at times as well.

Robert Lewandowski: 8.0

Continued his fine streak against Alaves as he managed to score against them once again. However, his movement was definitely a bit sluggish at times and could have possibly score one or two more as well.

Substitutes:

Fermin Lopez: 7.0

Energetic and dynamic, he did not let Barça feel the absence of Gavi on the field. Was present everywhere on the pitch to both attack and defend for the team.

Frenkie de Jong: 7.5

Completely changed the feel of Barça’s game and the way they took on the challenge from Alaves. Brought in more control and much more stability to the team, his crisp passing was just the icing on the cake that Hansi Flick’s side needed to unlock the opposition.

Eric Garcia: 7.5

A brilliant performance from the Spanish defender, who was especially comfortable on the ball and gave some clever passes to his teammates.

Ferran Torres: 6.0

Not really effective on the left wing but came on in place of Raphinha to let the Brazilian forward get some rest.

Gerard Martin: N/A

Not enough time or influence on the pitch to warrant a rating.

Pau Victor: N/A