Barcelona 5-0 Young Boys: Player ratings as Blaugrana dominate in routine win
Barcelona sent out a statement of intent with a dominant 5-0 win over Young Boys on Tuesday.
While Hansi Flick’s side were heavy favourites heading into the game, they made sure to flex every ounce of their quality in a sublime performance which saw Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Inigo Martinez all get on the score sheet in the first half.
Lewandowski added a second after the restart, before an own goal capped off a memorable evening for Barcelona.
How the game unfolded
Barcelona came out hot and took the lead just eight minutes in. Raphinha’s low cross fizzed across the six-yard box and was gleefully tapped home from Lewandowski at the back post.
Jules Kounde crashed over from range as Barcelona continued to dominate proceedings, while the ever-dangerous Lamine Yamal caused all sorts of problems every time he drove down the right wing.
Young Boys should have tied things up on the half-hour mark. Ebrima Colley collected a cross at the back post and had enough space to fire away a dangerous volley, but he could only slice well wide of Inaki Pena’s goal.
The second goal came shortly after. Pedri’s strike was deflected into the path of Raphinha, who slammed home the rebound to put Barcelona into the emphatic lead they deserved.
Three minutes later, and it was three. Pedri’s free-kick was met in the box by Martinez, whose excellent header nestled perfectly in the back of the net. Hansi Flick’s side were more than good value for their lead heading into the break and could have easily had five or six goals before the interval.
Lewandowski added Barcelona’s fourth shortly after the restart. Martinez met Raphinha’s corner and headed back across the box, where the Pole once again tapped home from two yards out.
Young Boys‘ best chance of the evening came as Joel Monteiro crashed against the woodwork from close range, before Marc Casado was needed to clear the rebound off the line.
Barcelona grabbed a fifth in fortuitous circumstances. With ten minutes to go, Alejandro Balde’s cross ended up in the back of the Young Boys net courtesy of a sliced attempted clearance from Mohamed Ali Camara
Monteiro thought he had netted a consolation in the dying embers, only for a VAR check to confirm he had not managed to beat the offside trap.
GK: Inaki Pena – 6/10 – Largely a bystander
RB: Jules Kounde – 7/10 – Effectively played as a winger here, such was Barcelona’s dominance. Involved in a whole lot in the final third.
CB: Pau Cubarsi – 7/10 – So calm and composed at the back. Dealt with any rare threats and did his best to get things going at the other end.
CB: Inigo Martinez – 9/10 – Comfortable in defence and impactful in attack. Took his header very well, even if the defending was poor, and grabbed an assist for the fourth goal as well.
LB: Alejandro Balde – 7/10 – Perhaps needs to work on his crossing but deserves credit for getting into dangerous areas time and time again.
DM: Marc Casado – 7/10 – Kept things ticking in midfield with real ease. Looked like a really experienced player.
DM: Pedri – 9/10 – Pulled the strings at the base of midfield in a truly dominant performance. Some of his passes were sensational.
RM: Lamine Yamal – 8/10 – A typically excellent performance. Caused chaos whenever he ran at the Young Boys defence.
AM: Raphinha – 9/10 – On form, is Raphinha the best player in Europe right now? One goal and one assist in the first half.
LM: Ferran Torres – 6/10 – Surprisingly failed to make as much of an impact as those around him.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 9/10 – Some excellent movement which was simply too good for the Young Boys defenders to keep up with. Tapped home twice from close range.
Substitutes
SUB: Ansu Fati (64′ for Pedri) – 6/10
SUB: Hector Fort (64′ for Cubarsi) – 7/10
SUB: Frenkie de Jong, (74′ for Yamal) – 7/10
SUB: Pau Victor (74′ for Lewandowski) – 6/10
SUB: Andreas Cuenca (84′ for Martinez) – N/A
Subs not used: Ander Astralaga (GK), Aron Yaakobishvili (GK), Sergi Dominguez, Gerard Martin, Guillermo Fernandez Pablo Torre, Toni Fernandez
Manager
Hansi Flick – 8/10 – While the gulf in quality meant this was always likely to be a simple affair, Flick made sure that Barcelona looked like absolute world-beaters here.