Barcelona player ratings against Alaves: Debutant impresses in defeat

Barcelona lost their first match after being crowned La Liga champions, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Alaves at Mendizorroza.

Wojciech Szczesny – 6.5

Drafted in for his first start in six months, and he performed relatively well – although he was a bit erratic at times.

Jules Kounde – 5.5

A real chance to get back into form, but once again, he was disappointing. Barcelona will be concerned about the right-back position going into the summer as they can no longer rely upon Kounde.

Pau Cubarsi – 6

Did well enough during his 62 minutes on the pitch.

Alvaro Cortes – 7

There were few positives for Barcelona to take from Wednesday’s defeat, but Cortes was one of them. On debut, he looked very solid in defence, and it would be no surprise to see him involved again in the final two matches of the season.

Alejandro Balde – 6

Like Kounde, he looks far away from his best level, but he was decent defensively in this one.

Marc Casado – 5.5

A real chance for him to put himself into Hansi Flick’s thoughts for the rest of the season, but it was another underwhelming performance from the midfielder, who could be leaving in the summer.

Marc Bernal – 6.5

He was decent, but he will be disappointed to have lost the duel that led to Alaves’ goal.

Roony Bardghji – 6

He struggled to make any sort of impact in attack. This was the sort of match for Bardghji to show that he can be an effective backup to Lamine Yamal for next season, so there will be more doubts in this regard leading into the summer.

Dani Olmo – 6.5

Looked bright in the first half, but he faded out of the match as it went on.

Marcus Rashford – 6.5

Barcelona looked at their most threatening when he was on the ball, but he could not make the difference in attack.

Robert Lewandowski – 5.5

He was anonymous. It certainly appears to be the right time for him to leave Barcelona, and this appears to be the reality for the Polish striker.

Substitutes

Xavi Espart – 6.5

He showed much more than Kounde at right-back.

Pedri – 6

Played the last half hour, but couldn’t make much of a difference.

Ferran Torres – 6

Struggled on the wing.

Joao Cancelo – 6

Tried his best to make a difference.

Tommy Marques – 6

Another first team appearance for the young midfielder.

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