Barcelona v Real Madrid: Every player marked out of 10 from El Clasico

In the first El Clasico of the season Barcelona head into half-time with an emphatic 2-0 lead over Real Madrid.

Philippe Coutinho opened proceedings in the 11th minute after Jordi Alba found space down the left hand side before picking out the Brazilian, who tucked home with precision.

Luis Suarez put the Catalan club two to the good after Raphael Varane brought down the Uruguay international to concede a penalty kick. And so Barca lead 2-0 at the break, but how did the players rate?

Barcelona

Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6 – Answered everything Real threw at him in the first-half. 

Sergi Roberto – 7 – Surged forward whenever he could, the Spaniard was a threat down the right and stood up to the task of dealing with Bale and Marcelo.  

Gerard Pique – 7 – Formed a formidable centre-back partnership with Lenglet.  

Philippe Coutinho has scored his first goal against Real Madrid in his second Clásico appearance.

Jordi Alba finds someone else to cut it back to. pic.twitter.com/nt1OLvgLIp

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 28, 2018

Clement Lenglet – 7 – The Frenchman looked at home on the big stage and worked well in tandem with Pique.   

Jordi Alba – 8 – Brilliant at getting forward in typical Alba fashion, and produced a delightful ball to set up Coutinho for the opener.    

Ivan Rakitic – 8 – Dominated the middle of the park, making more passes than any player on the pitch.   

Sergio Busquets – 7 – Procured the ball expertly so those further up the pitch had license to thrive.

Arthur – 7 –  The Brazilian was a composed and cool head in the centre of the park. 

Rafinha – 6 – A threatening outlet for Barca, the Brazil forward grew into the match at half-time approached.   

Luis Suarez – 8 – A consistent danger in the final third, the creative marksman caused a number of problems for Varane and Ramos – took his penalty well.

Luis Suárez has scored more Clásico goals (7) since making his Barcelona debut than any other player in the fixture.

VAR with a deserved assist. pic.twitter.com/WDl63U4Tlx

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 28, 2018

Philippe Coutinho – 8 – Alongside Suarez, the duo were extremely dangerous and potent in the first 45 minutes; the Brazilian also netted the opener in fine fashion.

Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois – 5 – The Belgian could do little as Coutinho and Suarez tucked home emphatically.  

Nacho – 4 – Struggled to contain Coutinho, was exposed for Alba’s assist, and picked up a yellow card in frustration.   

Raphael Varane – 4 – Another who really struggled to get to grips with the Barca attack, also conceded a sloppy penalty.  

Sergio Ramos – 5 – Just could not form a consistent bulwark alongside Varane, as Barca ran at them at sheer will.

Marcelo – 5 – Certainly looked to get forward as much as possible, but Real really struggled to get to grips with the match.  

Barcelona have now scored in 22 consecutive Clásicos across all competitions, equalling the fixture’s record set by Real Madrid between 1959 and 1969.

On the verge of history. pic.twitter.com/WhLUkfuJX6

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 28, 2018

Luka Modric – 4 – Had the fewest touches of any midfielder; the Croat looked out of touch with the match.  

Casemiro – 5 – Sat in front of the back four, but struggled to protect them and was really quite anonymous. 

Toni Kroos – 5 – Failed to influence proceedings, though he was the only Real player to manager 100% passing accuracy.   

Gareth Bale – 5 – Just could not get the ball down and penetrate the Barca defence in typical Bale style.

Karim Benzema – 4 – Isolated up top, the Frenchman gave Pique and Lenglet very few problems.

Isco – 5 – Had nearly double the number of touches of his attacking counterparts but failed to impose his creativity on the Barca defence. 

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