Barcelona were completely demolished by Kylian Mbappe and PSG on Tuesday in the first leg of the knockout round of the Champions League. The French striker scored a hat-trick, while the hosts were humiliated and appear to be on the verge of elimination from the competition.
But how was the performance of each player in this? Here are our player ratings for the match for each starter, substitute and coach.
All ratings are out of 10 and the higher the number, the better. A zero would be a red card in the first minute. A 10 would be like a dominant hat trick.
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Barcelona
GK – Marc-Andre Ter Stegen: He made some really incredible stops in the first half, including an upcoming goal by Layvin Kurzawa. He was unable to do anything in Kylian Mbappe’s first game and his defense hung him up to dry the rest of the way. Rating: 6
DEF – Sergino Dest: A positive aspect for Barça with timely blocks and great energy in the first half, but his position was quite bad in the second, as Barça was chasing the match and Kylain Mbappe took advantage of Barcelona in search of the match. Rating: 6
DEF – Gerard Pique: He reacted badly at the opening, looking like a step too slow. And it got worse from there. He didn’t even look like a decent reserve at Barça tonight, which says a lot, considering his support line has been awful. Rating: 2
DEF – Clement Lenglet: He was taken to school by Mbappe. Its speed and positioning were also bad. He knew where Moise Kean was in his goal, but he couldn’t deal with the situation. Rating: 3
DEF – Jordi Alba: He advanced well to the left at the beginning, but he faded as the game progressed. He showed tremendous effort to recover defensively, but his side was constantly outnumbered. Rating: 4
MID – Sergio Busquets: Almost imperceptible to be blunt. Overtaken in the middle and taken off in the second half. Like Piqué, he looked like his best days were behind him. Rating: 4
MID – Pedri: The bright spot at the beginning, showing tremendous effort and throwing some dangerous balls. He deserves more minutes for that creativity, which is often absent from the rest of the Barcelona team. Rating: 6
MID – Frenkie de Jong: Not pointed at both ends of the field, but he won a penalty and made a big block in the area. He failed to see the ball as he would have liked, impairing his ability to contribute to the attack. Rating: 5
FWD – Antoine Griezmann: I missed a big chance and a good chance in the first half. He really could have scored, but like the rest of his career at Barcelona, below average. Rating: 4
FWD – Ousmane Dembele: Pace, but very little else. He received a big ball from Messi and did nothing with it in the first half. It’s time to send him away. Rating: 3
FWD – Lionel Messi: He scored the goal in the first half after sending the ball that resulted in the penalty. He won a dangerous free kick, he should have given Dembele an assist, but other than that, he was very quiet, hit just two shots, one of which was a penalty. Rating: 5
SUB – Oscar Mingueza: He came to help the defense and PSG scored moments later. Rating: 5
SUB – Francisco Trincão: He had a decent moment on the left before being swallowed up by the PSG defense, but he only had 12 minutes. Rating: 5
SUB – Riqui Puig: I didn’t have enough time to make an impact and the game was over anyway. Classification: N / A
SUB – Miralem Pjanic: He came to add something to the attack and I didn’t get a chance to do that. Classification: N / A
SUB – Martin Braithwaite: Without disrespect, but the way to return to this tie is not to bring Braithwaite, much less with five minutes to go. Classification: N / A
MANAGER – Ronald Koeman: Overtaken as a club manager, which seems like a weekly topic. At what point will club officials realize that Koeman, the coach, is far from the quality of Koeman, the player? Clueless, it is not a motivator and it is not worthy to be managed at this level. Rating: 0
Paris Saint-Germain
GK – Keylor Navas: Sharp when needed in the first half, but nothing he could do to stop Messi from scoring – nobody did. He didn’t test as hard as Ter Stegen in the second half, but bizarrely he almost gave Barcelona a second. Rating: 5
DEF – Alessandro Florenzi: Run irregular in the first half. Barça regularly lagged behind him and he was one of the two main weak links along with Idrissa Gueye. He improved in the second half and repositioned the ball that gave Mbappe the second goal. Rating: 5
DEF – Marquinhos: A solid display by the captain as the defense improved as the game progressed. Rating: 6
DEF – Presnel Kimpembe: Reliable enough with Marquinhos, although Barcelona didn’t test them enough in the second half. Rating: 6
DEF – Layvin Kurzawa: Penalized on penalty, but responded well and came close to scoring after playing a role in Mbappe’s tie and was more impressive after that. Rating: 6
MID – Idrissa Gueye: It may not be as worrying as Florenzi, but he was a time bomb after his first yellow card and was lucky not to catch a second. Logically removed in the interval. Rating: 4
MID – Leandro Paredes: He hit the ball with pleasure and hit Kean’s goal with an excellent free kick. Rating: 6
MID – Marco Verratti: Magnificent. Decisive on both ends with a perfectly synchronized tackle on one and then a little sparkle to create Mbappe’s first goal on the other. He set the pace until Pochettino withdrew it to avoid a potential suspension. Rating: 9
FWD – Moise Kean: Sharp, despite its ample space. He got an instant effort that Ter Stegen did well to keep out and worked hard on the right all night. He scored PSG’s third with a header from Paredes. Rating: 8
FWD – Kylian Mbappe: He tormented Barça’s defense and was denied early on by Ter Stegen, before making mistakes with a predatory finish after Verratti hit him. He got the second right before bending over in the third to complete a memorable hat-trick in an adulthood. Rating: 10
FWD – Mauro Icardi: I lost a good chance with 0-0, but made up for it with a good game of holding and a header that was inches from making it 2-1. He will not be grateful for his longing, but he still contributed. Rating: 6
SUB – Ander Herrera: A smart move to remove Gueye and replace him with a more reliable, but equally energetic, defensive midfielder. Rating: 6
SUB – Julian Draxler: Enough creativity to replace Verratti after the damage was done in order to protect the Italian from possible suspension. Classification: N / A
SUB – Danilo Pereira: Solid reserve bench option, with Pochettino withdrawing Kean to end the game. Classification: N / A
SUB – Thilo Kehrer: Another defensive change, with Pochettino covering any defensive gaps just minutes from the end. Classification: N / A
MANAGER – Mauricio Pochettino: Almost perfect game plan that made PSG grow in confidence and power after falling behind in the first half. A declaration of performance and result of the new boss. Rating: 9