Villareal
Alphonse Areola – 7: The goalkeeper on-loan from Paris St Germain had a solid game to keep his side’s hopes alive until the hour mark and had very little chance with any of the three Barcelona goals.
Mario Gaspar – 6: Villareal’s vice-captain recently earned his first call-up to the Spain squad and scored on his debut following his side’s impressive start to the season. He showed why with a largely impressive performance against a flying Neymar.
Daniele Bonera – 5: Stepped-in for the suspended Eric Bailly and could have fingers pointed at him for failing to track Neymar for the opener.
Victor Ruiz – 7: Led the backline well for the most part, making very few mistakes and putting in a calm and composed defensive performance.
Jaume Costa – 5: Was largely untroubled by Munir, but cost his side with a poor challenge that gave away a penalty for Barca to double their lead.
Pina – 6: Did well in position and provided good cover to the defence for the first hour, before being replaced on 65 minutes.
Bruno – 6: Largely performed well in midfield, but was guilty of giving the ball away to Busquets in the build-up to Barca’s opener.
Jonathan dos Santos – 5: Covered his fair share of space in midfield, yet struggled to deliver any meaningful quality to worry the host defence.
Samu Castillejo – 5: Largely on the fringes of the game, despite a first-half shot that was denied by Areola.
Denis Suarez – 6: Looked the Villareal player most likely to make something happen, picked out some great passes and worked up-and-down the left-wing between defence and attack.
Roberto Soldado – 6: Looked bright in the first-half but was increasingly forced deeper to try and get onto the ball, which saw him fade out of the match.
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Substitutes
Samu – N/A: Came on as a late replacement for Castillejo with defeat already inevitable.
Cedric Bakambu – 5: Replaced Pina to add an attacking element but struggled to get into the game.
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