Barcelona vs. Malaga – player ratings (part 2)
Midfielders - Barcelona
Andres Iniesta:
Andres Iniesta did a wonderful job in the midfield. Not only did he connect the centre midfield players with the strikers, he was involved in almost all the moves made by the Spanish Champions.
He was involved in everything that became positive for the La Blaugrana and he was also the pivotal character in providing the strikers with the final through ball.
The Spaniard did a wonderful job up front, in the centre and also fell back to defend for his team. It was definitely an outstanding performance by the Ballon d’Or finalist.
During the first half, he was given an assist by the Brazilian full back Daniel Alves and in his first touch he found the back of the net and gave his side the lead. Later on, he found himself at the end of a wonderful through ball from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296.
Even though he struck the ball on target, it deflected off the Malaga goalkeeper and gave Pedro Rodriguez the opportunity to score a goal. Andres Iniesta deserves an
8 for his efforts on the pitch.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Busquets-c33048:
The young Spanish midfielder managed to give another solid performance. He was not only outstanding at the back in fact he managed to show his ability up front.
The FIFA World Cup 2010 winner and a first-team player for the Spanish side is often criticized for not being as good as his fellow team mates.
However, his performance today simply showed the fans how solid he is in the Catalan defence.
Even though he helped score a goal during the first half after a sliding tackle on the Malaga defender right outside their penalty area, during the second half he allowed them to pull one back.
A late tackle on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Julio-c19950 Baptista gave the visitors a free kick that was taken by Duda and he struck the ball past Victor Valdes to make the score line 3-1.
Even though he won most of the balls, he was barely over-worked in the midfield and stood as a brick wall behind the central midfielders. The Spanish youngster deserves a
7 for his efforts on the pitch.
Xavi Hernandez:
Xavi Hernandez is truly a master-class player. His perfect short passing is simply unmatchable by any other player in the world. He was simply impeccable in the midfield and it was hard for the Malaga midfielders to dominate in the heart of the pitch as
Xavi Hernandez pulled the strings of the game.
Not only did he come close to scoring a goal, he also managed to make another assist during the game and the time when the goal was scored was crucial for La Blaugrana.
During the first half, Xavi Hernandez found the ball at his feet but rather than passing it towards Lionel Messi his took his shot on goal but it struck the cross bar. Later, during the second half, the score line turned 3-1 and looked as if the visitors
might be making a comeback.
However, the Spanish maestro passed the ball onto http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629, who made no mistake in slotting the ball into the net. Xavi Hernandez deserves a
7.5 for his efforts on the pitch.
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