The pressure was on Barcelona to take all three points against Eintracht Frankfurt last night, especially after the team’s defeats to PSG and Chelsea and a draw against Club Brugge in the league stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Hansi Flick’s side started decently, but Eintracht Frankfurt took the lead through a counter-attacking goal and Barcelona simply had no answers in the opening period.
After the restart, however, the Catalans found an unlikely goalscorer in Jules Kounde to net a brace in three minutes to turn their situation around. They had chances to improve their lead further but could not take their chances.
Joan Garcia: 7
Joan Garcia was not a very busy man on the night, but cannot be faulted for the goal conceded as he was virtually in a 1v1 situation. Made one save in the first half and made some clutch saves after the break.
Alejandro Balde: 7
Balde did not have a great outing at Spotify Camp Nou and was constantly caught out of position and hanging by the opposition counters. Should have done far better to defend against the opposition’s opening goal but improved after the break.
Gerard Martin: 6.5
The centre-back did largely okay but should have done far better to intercept the ball in the buildup to the visitors’ opening goal. He was caught off his line on a couple of other occasions as well and made some rookie errors with his distribution.
Pau Cubarsi: 6.5
Cubarsi was fine with his distribution but his positioning in some of Eintracht Frankfurt’s counter-attacks was questionable. He did not appear comfortable enough tracking back with pace and should have done better against the opener.
Jules Kounde: 9
Kounde’s outing at right-back was decent, but not much more than that as he struggled to balance defence and attack.
Indeed, he did not allow many attacking buildups to unfold on his flank, but the player was sloppy with his combination play and uncharacteristically lost the ball leading Barcelona’s buildup to dead ends time and time again.
Got on the end of Rashford’s ball after the break and pummelled the ball into the back of the net for the equaliser. Scored again 2 minutes later with another header off Yamal’s assist.
Eric Garcia: 7.5
Eric Garcia had a decent game in terms of his off-the-ball work and pressing contributions. His distribution and ball progression into useful positions, however, were limited. While he did not do too much wrong, much of his distribution seemed horizontal.
Pedri: 8
Pedri’s composure through midfield gave some structure to Barcelona’s otherwise haphazard and aimless buildup in the first half.
The Canary Islander regularly attempted to create something productive to create openings in the final third, but often found himself up against too many bodies to handle.
Fermin Lopez: 6
Lopez had an uncharacteristically quiet and ineffective night. While he was energetic and active in the press, he was relatively sloppy with the ball and did not find the right channels to make runs through the opposition defence. Was taken off at half-time.
Lamine Yamal: 8
The player returned to the right wing last night and was surprisingly isolated in the first half, almost looking disconnected from the team and too distant from any nearby players.
While Yamal himself did not have a poor game and was actively involved in dribbles, he seemed to have no support around him to combine with and thus found himself totally isolated.
Provided the assist for Kounde’s second goal with a rather uncharacteristic cross that did not seem to come off perfect contact.
Raphinha: 7.5
The Brazilian star returned to the starting lineup as the left-winger and even racked up a stunning run and assist for Robert Lewandowski’s opener, only to have it chalked off for offside.
He was active in the press but could not create much of substance past Frankfurt’s low block beyond that. Shifted to a central role at times as well, but could not effectively conjure much from there either.
Robert Lewandowski: 7
Got on the end of Raphinha’s early ball to score but had the goal disallowed. Beyond that, however, the Polish striker did not generate too many chances or get into regular goal-scoring positions.
Marcus Rashford: 8.5
Flick counted on Rashford to deliver after the break and brought him on as a substitute for Fermin. The winger delivered almost immediately with a peach of a ball into Kounde’s path from a long way out.
The post Kounde 9, Pedri 8 | Barcelona 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt: Player Ratings appeared first on Barca Universal.
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