FC Barcelona’s Champions League journey came to an end in interesting fashion as they saw off Viktoria Plzen away from home in an inconsequential fixture.
Xavi fielded a team of young and fringe player hoping to give them valuable playing time and to see if they can get the job done against a side who didn’t get a single win in their previous 5 fixtures in the competition. They did just that as Marcos Alonso opened the scoring for the visitors six minutes into the game, Ferran Torres doubled the score line before the half-time mark. Barcelona were, by far and large, the better team, and did not concede even after Viktoria Plzen threatened on counters.
The second half was just as entertaining as the first as Viktoria Plzen had pulled one back through Tomas Chory’s penalty, while Barcelona restored their two goal lead, courtesy of Ferran.
Soon after, though, Chory cut the lead back to one with a dominant header from inside the box.
The game continues to produce more and more as Raphinha’s brilliant pass split Viktoria’s defence for the nth time, finding Pablo Torre, who scored without hesitation.
Eventually, the game finished 2-4 in favour of Barcelona. There were several key takeaways from this win, especially in the form of some impressive individual performances.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Inaki Pena: 7.9
In a game where Plzen had more shots on target than Barcelona, Inaki Pena was called into action multiple times and did well to keep them out multiple times.
Hector Bellerin: 6.8
Made a couple good crosses in to the ball and was surprisingly comfortable inverting.
He always look like a liability when the team needed to defend.
Gerard Pique: 7.7
Didn’t play particularly bad but he did concede a headed that was very much avoidable.
He also had several problems dealing with 6’6″ Chory.
Marcos Alonso: 6.5
Always seen a better player around the opposition box than around his. A striker who never was.
Jordi Alba: 8.0
One of the better players tonight until he got subbed off.
Did well to create chance after chance for his teammates
Gavi: 7.6
Composed under pressure in possession and of course, very rash off-the-ball.
Franck Kessie: 7.2
Kessie was very calm on the ball and was the orchestrator of some of our goals. Unlucky to have pulled his hamstring half-way through the second half, though.
Pablo Torre: 7.5
Torre had a largely solid midfield performance tonight with his brilliant scanning and one-two passing. Conceding a penalty for Barcelona, unfortunately, but pulled one back in the 76th minute through a well-taken goal.
Raphinha: 8.5
Raphinha was part of pretty much every goal Barcelona scored. Found Jordi Alba with a wonderful chip in the second goal, assisted Ferran for the third, and then found Torre with a lobbed through ball for his second assist. Should be on the pitch much more often.
Ansu Fati: 6.9
A disappointing performance from Fati, who missed two easy chances. Although he did seem to frequently get in dangerous position.
Man of the Match
Ferran Torres: 9.1
Ferran Torres might just be getting his rhythm back. The Spaniard scored a brace tonight with brilliant movement and timing. Was a bit lucky on both finishes, but got a well deserved a brace.