Eibar 0-3 Barcelona: 3 players who impressed and 2 who were poor

Eibar 0-3 Barcelona: 3 players who impressed and 2 who were poor | La Liga 2019/20

Modified Oct 19, 2019 16:06 GMT

Barcelona put in a professional performance against Eibar, cruising to a 3-0 victory to move to the top of LaLiga temporarily.

Ernesto Valverde restored Antoine Griezmann to the starting lineup and the decision paid handsome dividends as the Frenchman played a starring role in each of Barcelona's three goals.

Barcelona took the lead early on through Griezmann and despite a rather lethargic first-half performance, entered the intermission a goal to the good. Valverde's side then kicked into gear in the second period, two quickfire goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez securing the spoils for the visitors.

The win was Barcelona's fifth on the trot in all competitions and helped them leapfrog Real Madrid - who play later in the day - to the top of the table.

As for Eibar, they will take heart from their first-half performance and look to bounce back with easier fixtures on the horizon.

On that note, here's a look at the players that starred and flopped in this encounter.

Impressed: Antoine Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann has come under fire for a string of subpar performances following his much-hyped move from Atletico Madrid. However, he put in a much-improved display on his return from the international break.

Griezmann was a livewire on the field, for the most part, pressing high and hassling a hapless Pablo De Blasis into numerous errors.

The Frenchman broke the deadlock with a neat finish in the 13th minute. Beating the Eibar offside trap and helped by a slip from de Blasis, Griezmann strolled towards goal and calmly slotted home past Marko Dmitrovic.

Griezmann then turned provider, playing a delicate little flick into Lionel Messi's path for Barcelona's second goal.

However, the highlight of his performance came a few minutes later as he played an ingenious through ball that carved open the Eibar defence for Barcelona's third, scored by Luis Suarez.

Although it was certainly not a vintage performance from Griezmann, he did enough to silence some of his critics.

Poor: Pablo De Blasis

Pablo De Blasis had a day to forget. He was run ragged by both Jordi Alba and Antoine Griezmann, who thrived on the left-hand side.

De Blasis wasn't helped by Fabian Orellana's refusal to track back and was often left isolated against a number of Barcelona attackers.

The Argentine was at fault for Barcelona's opener as his slip allowed Griezmann to have a free run at goal.

He was also wasteful with the ball, often coughing up possession when harried by the Barcelona front three.

Ultimately, it was a day to forget for De Blasis.

Impressed: Cote

Eibar's standout player on the day, José Ángel Valdés was a thorn in Barcelona's flesh, at least in the first half. He constantly bombed down the left-hand side and delivered sumptuous balls into the box for his strikers to attack.

Cote carved out a couple of great crosses in the first half, but unfortunately, Pedro Leon and Sergio Enrich were unable to make them count.

He also looked solid defensively, preventing Sergi Roberto and Lionel Messi from getting in behind.

While his level dipped in the second period, he remained one of Eibar's better players on the day.

Poor: Sergi Roberto

Sergi Roberto was almost invisible on the night for Barcelona. He looked completely out of sorts in the first half, with most of Eibar's attacks stemming from his flank.

Roberto was also careless in possession, as evidenced by his passing accuracy of just over 70%.

He also picked up a knee injury and was withdrawn at half time, the speedy Nelson Semedo replacing hi.

Impressed: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi started off rather abjectly but grew into the game as it progressed.

Messi squandered a wonderful chance to double Barcelona's lead in the first half, as he was thwarted in his attempt to round the Eibar keeper. However, he more than made amends for that miss in the second half. He began by setting up Luis Suarez with a delightful ball in behind the Eibar defence, but the Uruguayan's strike was ruled out for offside.

Messi then took matters into his own hands, latching onto a delicate flick from Antoine Griezmann before firing the ball into the bottom corner to hand Barca a 2-0 lead and ease some of the nerves that were building. The goal, which was Messi's second of the season so far, also took the Argentine maestro's tally to 16 goals in 10 games against Eibar.

His selflessness then came to the fore during Barcelona's third goal. Set free courtesy a sumptuous pass from Griezmann, Messi charged towards goal but opted to square it to Luis Suarez who tapped into an empty net.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari