Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News
In stark contrast to the team’s flying start to La Liga, Barcelona’s first UEFA Champions League clash of the year offered a serious reality check and was anything but simple.
Hansi Flick and Co. travelled to France to take on AS Monaco on match day 1 and the Ligue 1 side gave the Spanish leaders a run for their money.
The hosts started strong and put pressure on Barcelona, only to be helped by Flick’s side being reduced to ten men just in the 10th minute.
Maghnes Akliouche opened the scoring for the French side just six minutes after the game-changing incident but Lamine Yamal struck back for Barcelona with a wonder goal midway through the half to equalise the score.
The second half continued the trend of Monaco keeping the pressure with possession and their dominance grew as Barcelona slowly faded away their resistance with ten men.
In the end, a 73rd-minute goal from George Ilenikhena gave the hosts a 2-1 lead and three points.
Barça Universal brings you the player ratings from the UCL season opener.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen: 4
The German star was called into action regularly in Monaco’s spirited first half and made four big saves, all of which came from inside the box.
However, it was also his embarrassing pass directly to Monaco that led to Eric Garcia being sent off and Barcelona playing at a disadvantage.
Almost punched the ball into his net at the hour mark and was unconvincing with his saves for most parts of the game.
In many ways, the man is solely responsible for sending the team to a disadvantage.
Alejandro Balde: 3
An underwhelming display from the Spanish full-back as he saw meagre action on the field and minimally contributed to the collective.
Defensively decent but completely absent in the final third, the youngster recorded just thirteen passes on the night.
Inigo Martinez: 6
A solid defensive performance from the veteran centre-back including five clearances but…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/lewandowski-4-5-ter-stegen-4-monaco-2-1-barcelona-player-ratings/
Author : Adithya Eshwarla
Publish date : 2024-09-19 20:54:30
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
