La Liga 2017/18, Barcelona 3-0 Levante: Player Ratings

Barcelona maintained their nine-point lead at the top of LaLiga.

Levante

Oier – 7/10

The former Barcelona B goalkeeper returned to show he has a lot of quality in this game, making a string of good saves in both halves. He kept the score down in a quickfire first-half spell, and then later when he acrobatically stopped Suarez from doubling his tally for the night.

Antonio Luna – 6/10

Luna made one very big contribution to this game, excellently blocking Dembele’s shot, which came straight after a close-range effort from Suarez. But the position Sergi Roberto took up, and Dembele’s persistent runs inside meant he barely got over the halfway line.

Sergio Postigo – 5/10

Part of the reason Messi was not as effective as he can be was because of Levante’s tactics to stifle him. Clearly, they decided on the physical approach and Postigo took a booking in the first half. Had Barcelona stepped it up and gone for the kill in the second half, he may have had trouble staying on the pitch, but he did well to stay disciplined for the majority of the game.

Erick Cabaco – 6/10

Cabaco put in a decent performance and was not pulled out of position by Suarez and Messi in the first half when put under pressure. Like Postigo and Luna, he threw himself in front of a lot and made it tough for Barcelona’s attacking trio.

Shaquell Moore – 7/10

American defender Shaq was one of Levante’s standout players at the Camp Nou. Whilst he found it tough to contain a rampant Alba down the Barcelona left before the break, he played a part in exploiting the space he left behind, linking up well with captain Jason. He could have got on the scoresheet in the second half, too, with the effort which brought a save out of ter Stegen.

Jason – 5/10

Whilst the right-hand side was Levante’s target, Jason was only effective in the first half. He did manage to create space for his teammates, and if they could finish it could have been a different story for Levante.

Jefferson Lerma – 4/10

Lerma may have improved in the second half, but his first-half performance was all over the place. He missed the most guilt-edged chance of the first half, scuffing Emmanuel Boateng’s low cross wide, before narrowly avoiding a red card on two separate occasions. First, he fouled Messi, moments later hacking down Paulinho, while on a booking.

Sasa Lukic – 5/10

Many midfielders would have struggled a lot more than Lukic did when faced with Iniesta and Rakitic, but he deserves credit for holding his own, often covering for Lerma’s erratic performance. But there was very little attacking intent from him in the first half.

Cheick Doukoure – 6/10

The driving force going forward for Levante, Doukoure was unlucky not to have more of a concrete impact on proceedings. His strength and willingness to run allowed the visitors to get in behind early on, but like many, his impact dwindled as the game wore on.

Ivan Alvarez – 5/10

Alvarez joined Boateng up front when he could, but he was most effective cutting in from the right. He wasn’t afraid to take shots at ter Stegen’s goal, but his lack of accuracy typified Levante’s evening

Emmanuel Boateng – 5/10

It was a frustrating afternoon for Boateng, who was making his first start Levante. The striker did not have much support when holding up direct balls and often found himself running onto his own flick-ons; just as he did when setting up Lerma in the first half. His athleticism shows he has a bright future ahead, though.

Substitutes:

Roberto Pier – 4/10

Came on just after the hour mark, but his only real impact on the game was a booking six minutes from time.

Nano Mesa – N/A

Replaced Boateng with 16 minutes remaining, but the tone of the game was set by then and he was unable to change it.

Samu Garcia – N/A

Only had a matter of minutes on the pitch and didn’t make any real impact.