Barcelona vs Real Sociedad: 1-0, Player Ratings
FC Barcelona hosted Real Sociedad in the final game of the season. Though the match was inconsequential, yet it was a historic one. Spanish football legends, Andres Iniesta and Xabi Prieto, bade goodbye to their respective clubs and La Liga.
Barcelona played a very fluidic first half albeit with little penetration. They dominated possession and never let Sociedad have a sniff at their goal. The first half was a scoreless affair.
The second half was a similar affair. It was a moment of individual brilliance from Phillipe Coutinho that led to a Barcelona goal. However, thereon, both teams failed to have any say in the final scoreline.
Let's take a look at how the players fared for their respective teams:
Real Sociedad
Miguel Moya: 6.5/10
Moya was a solid presence at the back. He was called into action quite often and did well on all occasions. He made excellent stops throughout the match to keep his team in the game.
Alberto de la Bella: 5.5/10
This was not a match he would like to remember as he was beaten quite often by Semedo. Additionally, he was also disappointing in attack.
Diego Llorente: 7.5/10
A solid performance for the centre-back, he kept Suarez well in check for the entire duration of the match. Apart from that, he played the ball well out of his defence.
Raul Navas: 6.5/10
Like his centre-back partner, Navas too gave a solid performance at the heart of La Real’s defence. He was shaky at the back sometimes, especially when isolated one on one against an attacker, but as a whole, he did well.
Aritz Elustondo: 5/10
The full-back had a decent outing and defended reasonably well barring a few nervy moments here and there, especially when Jordi Alba overlapped. He stayed narrow and didn't really give much in attack.
David Zurutuza: 7/10
This was not a flashy performance for the Spanish midfielder, however, it was an effective one. He cut out passing channels of Barcelona’s midfielders quite a few times and used the ball efficiently.
Asier Illaramendi: 6.5/10
Former, Real Madrid player, Illarramendi had a decent game. Though he was not much influential in the second half, he came out on top in the midfield battle against Barca’s midfield before the restart. His distribution was efficient if not eye-catching.
Adnan Januzaj: 6/10
Januzaj was probably La Real's best attacker in the first half. However, the second half saw him fade away before being replaced due to an unfortunate injury.
Juanmi: 6.5/10
Though he started well, he faded as the match wore on. He did not trouble Semedo much, thus letting the right back’s day easy.
Oyarzabal: 5.5/10
Oyarzabal looked sharp in possession and enjoyed the ball at his feet. However, he just could not deliver the end product. He did win quite a turnovers high up the field, albeit in not so dangerous areas, which Real Sociedad could not capitalize on.
Willian Jose: 7.5/10
He was unable to unleash any troubling shots on goal to continue his goal-scoring form. He tried to link midfield and attack a couple of times but nothing fruitful came off.
Substitutes
Alvaro Odriozola: 4/10
His introduction did add a spark to Sociedad's attack. He was always available for a pass and often made the right decisions with it.
Sergio Canales: 5/10
Oyarzabal replaced Januzaj but could not affect the game much.
Xabi Prieto: N/A
This was his last match for La Real. Very late substitution did not have time to affect the game.