Raphinha 10, Cancelo 9 | Barcelona 7-2 Racing Club: Player Ratings

Raphinha 10, Cancelo 9 | Barcelona 7-2 Racing Club: Player Ratings Racing Santander did not pose Barcelona many problems at the Spotify Camp Nou last night as the Catalans cruised to a seventh straight win of the season with relative ease. The manager kept a full-strength lineup sans Pau Cubarsi against the visitors on Wednesday night, and his side responded with an explosive first-half where they blew their opposition away. For the nth time this season, Barcelona ran riot, and the result was never in question as Raphinha bagged a hat-trick, Joao Cancelo a brace and even Gabriel Jesus netted late in the night. Barça Universal brings you the player ratings from Barcelona 7-2 Racing Santander. Joan Garcia: 7 The Spanish goalkeeper did not have a very busy night given Barcelona’s dominance, but was also not handed his clean sheet owing to a poorly conceded goal in the first-half. While he could not have done much more to prevent that goal, he did decently beyond that and was solid with his sweeping and distribution. Left the field at half-time, possibly due to a niggle. Joao Cancelo: 9 Cancelo scored a brace for the ages. (Photo credit: X/FC Barcelona) Cancelo has a night for the ages against Racing Club, as he not only scored but netted a brace of stunning goals. It was Cancelo who opened the scoring for Barcelona from distance, firing the ball with real intent and finding the back of the net after it ricocheted off the post. He netted a second in the same half, once again from distance, albeit with a deflection off a player this time. Defensively, he could have done better to deny Racing their opening goal, but he had a solid game overall. Gerard Martin: 6.5 Gerard Martin started the game without Pau Cubarsi and looked relatively lost without the young protege by his side. He did not make any glaring errors like the previous game, but his reading and positioning were far from elite. Andreas Christensen: 6.5 Christensen entered the lineup partnering Martin as the manager decided to rest Cubarsi, and he could have done much better to deny the visitors their goal.  His positioning on the night was average, and he missed two relatively straightforward opportunities to score at the other end as well. Eric Garcia: 7.5 Eric’s performance against Racing Club provided several reasons to be optimistic about the player’s growth, particularly in the final third. The Spaniard connected well with Lamine Yamal at last, looked to make overlapping runs on the wing and even get into attacking positions and initiate threats with crosses. Defensively, he was stable without much discomfort. Rodri: 8.5 The midfield engine. (Photo credit: X/FC Barcelona) Already a midfield mainstay for Barcelona at this point, Rodri once again controlled the tempo of the game and acted like the team’s first line of defence. His distribution was immaculate and he looked more open to looking for the ambitious assist-creating passes than he did in recent games. His integration into Flick’s system is only improving as the days pass. Pedri: 8 After a poor showing at the weekend, Pedri was much better against Racing Santander and constantly looked to exploit the spaces in between the defenders of the newly-promoted side. He could have had a better defensive showing, but his performance was undoubtedly an improvement over the previous game. Yet, there is no doubt that the player continued to look fatigued once more. Dani Olmo: 8.5 Olmo had a brilliant game. (Photo credit: X/FC Barcelona) Olmo had a sensational game in Barcelona’s attacking midfield and was at the heart of every defence-splitting attack his side made on the night. He created two big chances in the first half with a staggering five key passes, earning one assist and completing 100% of his passes. Could even have scored, but made a mess of his chances. Karim Adeyemi: 8.5 Adeyemi was a whiff of fresh air on the left-flank, running into spaces and creating a deadly transition threat for Barcelona. However, his finishing was off the mark against Racing. The winger had several direct chances to score and failed to hit the target in most of them. His dribbling, however, created a constant menace in the box which Racing struggled to deal with. Turned assist provider for Lamine Yamal in the final minute of the game. Raphinha: 10 The hat-trick hero. (Photo credit: X/FC Barcelona) The captain was back on the scoresheet after one game without scoring, and he returned in some style. Raphinha’s high press and constant runs into the box created numerous chances, and one such chance led to a penalty which he comfortably converted.  He then got onto the end of Olmo’s ball and scored from point-blank range to complete a brace. Could have scored his hat-trick, but handed the second penalty to Lamine Yamal, and eventually completed it with the team’s third penalty. Lamine Yamal: 9 The youngster was explosive on the wing as a creative threat and found wonderful combinations of play to set his teammates free in the final third. In terms of finishing, however, his game was not great. The Spaniard missed a penalty and was denied by the woodwork later in the game. He spent a major part of the second half trying to turn his luck around and get on the scoresheet.  Scored once and had it ruled out for offside, but earned the assist for Gabriel Jesus’ goal on the night. Finally got his goal in the final minute of the second-half. Wojciech Szczesny: 6.5 Replaced Joan Garcia at half-time and made a direct and blatant error to gift the visitors their second goal on the night. Gabriel Jesus: 7.5 Came on to replace the hat-trick hero and scored a sensational goal into the top corner, hitting Lamine Yamal’s assist first-time with a great strike.