Barcelona 2-1 Napoli: 5 men who were impressive for the Catalans

#1 Ivan Rakitic

Ivan Rakitic was the standout performer of the night

Ivan Rakitic was among the handful of old guards in a team full of young blood. And it was clear that Barcelona needed his experience to see off a spirited Napoli side. The Croatian covered every blade of grass on the pitch, dropping down to defend, sprinting forward to join the attack and combining well with Busquets in the midfield. He shielded the ball very well, breaking the play when Napoli looked to be getting grip of the game and was intelligent with his overall play.

The Croatian tried to thread in long balls from the back, feeding new boy Antoine Griezmann and also his old comrade Luis Suarez. He always kept the ball moving, relying on short passes to build up play from the middle and switching play to bring the wings into attack. He was also impressive with his tackling and closing down of the opposition around the park.

Rakitic also regularly ventured forward to join the attack, making late runs into the box. He tested Meret with long shots and it was from one such attempt that the deadlock was broken. The game was still poised at 1-1 when the ball fell to Rakitic from a rebound just outside the box, in the 79th minute. The Croatian hit a thunderous volley that rocketed into the left corner and won Barcelona the game.