Player Ratings Valdes: The Catalan stopper, who leads the race for the Zamora trophy for the least number of goals conceded, had a very quiet night. Had nothing much to do beside picking up backpasses and dealing with the ocassional set piece. Fared well and will be pleased to have kept yet another clean sheet this season. –
6.5
Dani Alves: Relished the challenge of facing off against Aliaksandr Hleb on the right. Was superb defensively and put the Belarusian in his pocket throughout the game and was the undisputed winner of the battle on the right flank. Bombarded forward regularly giving his team options and width in the final third. Had some great link ups with Messi including a cheeky little backheel to the Argentine, who scored with a curling shot from outside the box. Provided some superb crosses late in the second half which should have resulted in goals. A very strong performance by the Brazillian fullback. –
7.5
Pique: He was a tower in defence for the Blaugrana even though Stuttgart did not pose a major scoring threat. Brought the ball out of defence very often, sent in a couple of aerial balls as well and his overall distribution was good. Kept Stuttgart dangerman Cacau quiet for most of the gameand dealt with set pieces very well. –
7.0
Puyol: With Stuttgart struggling to get a hold of the ball and create scoring opportunites, El Capitan had a very quiet night. Marshalled his backline well and along with his defensive partner Pique, completely neutralized the threat of Cacau and Pogrebnyak. –
7.0
Maxwell: Ventured forward quiet often giving the likes of Iniesta and Henry options on the left and made a couple of good runs down along the flank. Made no mistakes and had nothing much to do defensively.
- 6.5
Busquets: Did not add much creativity in the midfield but did his job well helping his team retain possession. Good distribution all night and linked up very well with Yaya Touré in the middle of the park. Suffered a couple of hard fouls and was hooked for Ibrahimovic in the 66th minute.
- 6.5
Yaya Touré:
Was an absolute monster in midfield. Would have been Man of the Match if it wasnt for another superhuman performance by Messi. The Ivorian put in his best performance this season and was a dominating presence in midfield outmuscling Stuttgart’s midfield duo of Khedira and Kuzmanovic. Broke up Stuttgarts play and won back possession for his team on more than a dozen ocassions. Showed great strength, pace and technique as he blasted forward regularly creating goal scoring opportunities for the forwards. Made a great run forward on the left picking up Messi’s pass and squaring the ball into the box giving Pedro the simplest of tap in’s and also had a shot on goal which went inches wide of the post. A complete performace.
- 8.5
Iniesta: Don Andres was a nuisance for the Germans on the left all night. Showed some great touches and ball control the best of which was a brilliant piece of dribbling late in the game. Played in some good passes, drifted inside and even had a couple of shots on goal in the second half when he was teed up by Ibrahimovic and Messi. –
7.0
Pedro: The Canary Islander scored a typical striker’s goal when he scored from five yards after Touré’s perfect pass from the left, taking his goal tally to 16 for the season. Kept swapping flanks with Henry and Messi and made a couple of good runs. Worked hard all night and covered more ground than any of his team mates helping out defensively regularly. His goal ended the game as a contest and the coach will be pleased with the effort he put in.
- 7.0
Henry: His inspiring performance against Valencia at the weekend convinced Guardiola and the Frenchman started the game ahead of Ibrahimovic. Started off very well as he had a shot on goal within the first two minutes. He was in great positions to score but that final ball would just not fall to his feet and will be disappointed to have not gotten on the scoresheet. –
6.0
Messi: La Pulga Atomica is absolutely unplayable at the moment. He has now scored 8 goals in his last 4 games. Ran at the helpless Stuttgart defence all night, played some great passes and linked up with his team mates superbly. A man of the match performance yet again by the FIFA World Player of the Year. Quickly settled nerves and gave Barca that crucial early goal on 11 minutes that set the tone for the remainder of the match. Darted in from the left and with three white shirts around him, pulled the trigger from outside the box and his shot went flying past Lehmann. Played a big part in the second goal, spotting Touré’s run and slicing the defence with an inch perfect pass. Scored his second at the hour mark when he picked up Alves’ backheel and sent in a low curling shot into the back of the net. El Mesias had two great opportunities to complete the hattrick when he beat 3 players and found himself 1 on 1 with the keeper but his chip went wide of the post. Two goals and one assist. Simply the best. –
9.0
Substitutes
Ibrahimovic: Was very static since he came on with half an hour to go, but provided a perfect through ball for Bojan to make the score 4-0.
- 6.5
Milito: The game was over as a contest when he was brought on. Had a few touches before the final whistle was blown.
- 6.0
Bojan: One touch, One goal. Finished past Lehmann after being played through by Ibrahimovic. The goal will do wonders for his confidence.
- 6.5
за газење..на последните 2 натпревари се гледа дека сите се враќат у старата форма лани што беа..е тек сеа ни нема престан...