Barcelona player ratings vs PSV: Messi delivers the slender victory

Defensive Midfielder- Sergio Busquets- 8/10

PSV Eindhoven played a lot of attacking, primarily counter attacking football as compared to their previous meeting with Barcelona. The Dutch outfit’s main man and tempo controller Gaston Pereiro was trying to get into the thick of it but Sergio Busquets stayed tight on his heels and restricted his involvement in the game. The Spaniard does most of his job off the ball and the PSV match was yet another example of that. Busquets’ passing was also really good. He completed 88% of his attempted balls.

Right Midfielder- Ivan Rakitic- 8/10

Ivan Rakitic made his return from a hamstring injury against the Dutch outfit and played a good game. He put in a defensive shift to keep the advancing Jorrit Hendrix at bay and helped Barcelona in moving forward through his work on the ball. Rakitic completed 98% of the 81 attempted passes and did not take any unnecessary shots. He was all around the right flank and made some fine plays along with Lionel Messi. Barcelona lacked being clinical in front of goal, otherwise Rakitic could have had a few assists.

Left Midfielder- Arturo Vidal- 7/10

Barcelona are finally getting to see the true Arturo Vidal that they so confidently invested in last summer. The Chilean midfielder was initially not preferred by the Catalans’ manager but he has slowly risen above in the pecking order. Vidal was not at the heart of anything significant but had a cool and composed match in the midfield. Should Arthur’s injury leave him out for long, Barcelona already have a worthy and experienced replacement to the Brazilian midfielder.