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Barcelona player ratings vs Villarreal: Messi wasn’t at his best

By Atharva Khadilkar

03 Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona celebrating his goal with his team during the Spanish championship La Liga football match between FC Barcelona and Villareal CF on December 02, 2018 at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
03 Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona celebrating his goal with his team during the Spanish championship La Liga football match between FC Barcelona and Villareal CF on December 02, 2018 at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – DECEMBER 02: Ter Stegen of Barcelona throws the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF at Camp Nou on December 02, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – DECEMBER 02: Ter Stegen of Barcelona throws the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF at Camp Nou on December 02, 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /

Barcelona got a win against Villarreal by a 2-0 margin to ensure that they ended matchday 14 of La Liga Santander on top of the league standings.

Barcelona bagged top spot in La Liga Santander on Sunday after seeing off Villarreal by a 2-0 margin and following Sevilla’s draw at Alaves by a 1-1 scoreline. Gerard Pique wonderfully headed in a cross from Ousmane Dembele in the closing minutes of the first half while Carles Alena converted a lovely pass from Lionel Messi to seal three minutes in the final stages of the game.

As the score margin suggests, it was by no means an easy victory for the league leaders who were anyway without a number of players. Plus, they maintained a great amount of organisation, intensity and possession throughout the course of the match. Marc Andre Ter Stegen also kept his first clean sheet since October and was tested on quite a lot of occasions from the visitors.

Barcelona is now 19 matches unbeaten against Villarreal across all competitions in the Camp Nou and needed a resounding win after some lacklustre and slow displays in the last few weeks. Players such as Philippe Coutinho, Leo Messi and Sergio Busquets among others will now rest for the cup game next week. Let us take a look at Barcelona’s player ratings.

Goalkeeper- Marc Andre Ter Stegen- 7/10

Marc Andre Ter Stegen managed to earn his first clean sheet in over six weeks during the Villarreal match and deservedly got it. He had to make a few saves from the Yellow Submarines’ forwards and also textbook handlings from long shots coming at him. A really responsible and determinant game was churned out by him.

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