UEFA Champions League 2018/19: Top 5 performers from matchday 3

Rafinha played brilliantly in the newly assigned role

#1 Arthur Melo

This Brazilian kid is a wonder. He has never seen Europe before, never played football in Europe and never played in a competition with quality such as Champions League. The kid has Iniesta’s iconic shirt number at the back but he is drawing more and more comparisons to Xavi.

Arthur Melo performed amazingly against Inter. He played simple football, made simple passes, kept the possession with him and distributed the ball with precision. He just gets more and more like Xavi with each passing game.

The ability to retain possession, the passes, the turns, everything reminds us of the former Barcelona legend. He was involved in the game right from the starting whistle. He was tackled twice by Inter in the very starting minutes of the game which revealed the desperation that he created in the opposition.

He seemed a very patient character, doing just fine with the ball. He turned away from all the tackles and interceptions with delight and he dropped deep as well to build the attack.

Arthur didn’t mind the press from the opponents one bit, whether they came alone or they came in groups of two or three. He lobbed a beautiful ball towards Suarez but it didn’t end up as a goal. He also pressed the opposition well and won possession on two to three occasions.

Arthur held on to almost 7% of the team possession, second only to Alba and Rakitic in the game. He also had a 94% pass success.

Arthur had an all-around contribution. He made himself available for receiving passes. He bypassed the high press of Inter. He also nutmegged a few players in an attempt to keep possession.

Arthur brought stability to Barcelona’s midfield and he released the pressure of Rakitic and Busquets.

Edited by Sagnik Mallick