Las Palmas 1-2 Barcelona: Player Ratings

Barcelona took the trip to Canary Islands this week to take on Las Palmas after a fortnight off for Christmas and New Year’s. Fair to say, though, their excitement about returning to the pitch probably did not last long enough.

Joao Cancelo picked up what seemed to be a knee injury in the 11th minute, before Barcelona eventually conceded to former player Munir el Haddadi a minute later, assisted by none other than former player Sandro.

The team put in a horrendous performance in the first half looking for an equaliser, with Xavi visibly frustrated. His half-time talk seemed to have worked, though, as Barça came back with a much better second half.

Ferran Torres eventually got the equaliser, but the visitors could not find the winner until injury time, when Ilkay Gundogan was fouled right in front of goal.

The German took responsibility, and converted it comfortably to get Barcelona all three points.

Inaki Pena: 1

A massively questionable performance from Inaki Pena, who did not rush out in time to stop the Las Palmas goal. He kept on punching and clearing the ball out, as well, instead of catching it.

Joao Cancelo: N/A

Subbed out in 11 minutes due to injury.

Ronald Araujo: 4

Was partly at fault for the goal with more poor marking, which has been the case through the last few weeks.

Jules Kounde: 4

Gave away the ball way too many times in dangerous areas, and did not defend the right flank well enough, either.

Alejandro Balde: 7

Made a few good runs with the ball, single-handedly beating the press, but often did not find the time or space to release it to his mates. Was the only outlet available to Barcelona at times, though.

Roberto: 8

A solid first-half from Roberto, who was seemingly the only player able to beat the offside trip despite Las Palmas. Should have scored, too, but decided to pass, instead, which went wayward.

Eventually got an assist, which bodes well with his performance.

Ilkay Gundogan: 7

One of the quieter evenings for Gundogan, who did not quite make the difference in midfield. Came up clutch eventually, anyway, winning and converting the penalty in injury time.

Frenkie de Jong: 8.5

By far and large the best player on the pitch for Barcelona, de Jong was the only outlet between midfield and attack for them, successfully linking the two through balls over the defence.

Raphinha: 5.5

Could not successfully beat the press and offside trap in the first half, but put in a better shift in the second. Too little too late, though.

Robert Lewandowski: 3

Ghosted throughout the game.

Ferran Torres: 7.5

Paid off Xavi’s confidence in him with a solid performance – easily the best of the front three. Scored the equaliser with a good finish, and should have arguably stayed on the pitch till full-time.

SUBSTITUTES

Lamine Yamal: 2

Should have been subbed in earlier, but should also have been much more involved than he was today.

Joao Felix: 4

Did well to make some runs behind the defence, but his decision making let him down.

Fermin Lopez: 6

Again, should have arguably been subbed in earlier. Made the difference in the pockets, finding runners in the final third and creating a couple of chances.

Vitor Roque: 2

Debut for the Brazilian, who was not involved quite as much as he would have wanted. Made some solid runs, and eventually got the chance to score in a 1v1, but put the ball wide.