La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Sociedad Player Ratings as the Catalans begin post-Messi Era with a big win

FC Barcelona started their post-Messi era with a dominating 4-2 win over Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on Sunday. Gerard Pique put the Catalans ahead with a header before Martin Braithwaite struck twice. Sociedad scored two goals through Mikel Oyarzabal and Julen Loberte to throw the game wide open before Sergi Roberto made it way out of reach of Sociedad with the fourth goal.

Let us dive right into the player ratings of both the clubs:

FC Barcelona

Neto (GK) (8/10): The Barcelona goalkeeper made some decent saves and was confident while coming out for the ball.

Jordi Alba (7/10): Alba was an absolute livewire on the left flank and made some good crosses.

Gerard Pique (8/10): Pique scored the first goal of the game for Barcelona with a splendid header and was on top form at the back as well.

Eric Garcia (8/10): Garcia partnered Pique at the back and had a successful Barcelona senior team debut. 

Sergino Dest (7/10): The American right-back made inroads into the opposition box and was a constant threat.

Pedri (6/10): The Spaniard looked tired and jaded and was not at his level best for Barcelona. Pedri has been playing an insane number of games throughout the season and that seems to have taken a toll here.

Sergio Busquets © (8/10): Busquets played the crucial role of blocking the opposition midfield and he succeeded.

Frenkie de Jong (8/10): De Jong created several openings for Barcelona and was a creative menace for the opposition.

Martin Braithwaite (9/10): The Danish striker was on the form of his life as he scored twice in the game for Barcelona.

Memphis Depay (8/10): Depay made some darting runs in the empty pockets of Sociedad and worked the opposition defence.

Antoine Griezmann (8/10): The Frenchman was pumped up throughout the game and showed an immense bit of work rate. 

Substitutes

Sergio Roberto (7/10): Roberto took the pitch for a few minutes and scored Barcelona’s fourth goal of the game. 

Emerson Royal (6/10): Royal showed his defensive abilities and was average with the ball.

Clement Lenglet (N/A)

Ronald Araujo (N/A)

Real Sociedad 

Alex Remiro (5/10): Rimero had a bad day at the office and conceded four goals. 

Joseba Zaldua (6/10): Zaldua was second-best in the right-wing as he was up against Dest who completely ran him over.

Aritz Elustondo (6/10): Ustandu showed glimpses of his brilliance but was second best while marking Braithwaite. 

Robin Le Normand (4/10): Normand had a forgettable encounter and was not at his best.

Alhen Munoz (6/10): Munoz provided an amount of support down the left but that was of enough.

Mikel Merino (6/10): Marino had a decent game and created a number of scoring opportunities.

Martin Zubimendi (6/10): Partnering Merino, Zubimendi was also a decent performer in the midfield.

Adnan Januzaj (5/10): Janujaj was completely owned by Barcelona on the right flank and failed to make a major impact.

David Silva (5/10): Silva made some scoring chances but most of them were not convincing enough.

Mikel Oyarzabal (8/10): He scored a fantastic free-kick to make it 3-2 for Sociedad.

Portu (6/10): Portu was mostly isolated up front and could not play a key part.

Substitutes

Jon Bautista (6/10): Bautista replaced Silva in hopes of more creative options but Guardiola was so very wrong.

Ander Barrenetxea (7/10): Barrentxea changed the course of the right-wing for Sociedad as the team made more use of the right flank after his introduction to the game.

Julen Lobete (8/10): Lobete scored the first goal for Sociedad and had an instant impact on the game after coming in.

Jon Pacheco Dozagarat (NA):

Andoni Gorosabel (NA):

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