UEFA Champions League: SL Benfica 0-2 FC Barcelona: Player Ratings

Valdés put in an excellent performance on Tuesday; one that will fill him with confidence heading into the Clasico. It may only have been his third clean sheet of the season, but it was well-deserved considering that the Catalan made a number of quality saves to keep Benfica at bay. While it’s true that many of Benfica’s shots favoured power over precision, Valdés still had to make the saves – something he did very well.

A huge improvement from the Brazilian, who bounced back from his sub-standard performance against Sevilla with a solid night against Benfica on Tuesday. His passing was better, he committed fewer turnovers and he also did his fair share of the defensive work with a number of good tackles.

Well, what can you say about Carles Puyol other than that he’s an incredibly unlucky guy? In his first match back from a knee injury, Puyol landed heavily on his arm after leaping for a header, dislocating his elbow in the process. It’s his third injury of the season, although two of those injuries have been freakish accidents – who else fractures their cheekbone in a match, and who else dislocates their elbow? Even the knee injury was unlucky (in my opinion anyway), so it’s nothing to do with how injury-prone he has become, nor is it anything to do with Tito Vilanova’s management. Typically, his injury came after 78 minutes of solid defensive work – get well soon Puyi!

An intelligent performance from the Argentine, who made the joint-highest number of interceptions from his position in central defense. Whether this means that Mascherano is good enough at reading the game to make up for Song’s questionable positioning remains to be seen, but it’s a sign that Mascherano is starting to improve as a defensive leader. Not only that, but with Carles Puyol in the side as cover, it allows El Jeficito to move into midfield more often to help dictate the game – as his passing total suggests. Just a shame that Puyol’s ruled out until December...

At the start of the season, we were all remarking about how brilliant Jordi Alba was and how quickly he had settled into the Barcelona system. Then he made one mistake, Adriano took his place and scored a couple of goals. All of a sudden, the Brazilian was the undisputed number one at left-back, but now Jordi Alba has recovered from the flu, we have been reminded of the Spaniard’s talents, with Tuesday’s match further proof of his immense potential. He was excellent at the back, won fouls for his teammates and created the odd chance as well. Will he start the Clasico? I think it’s touch-and-go at this stage, but either way, left-back is looking one of our strongest positions.

Busquets dominated the midfield alongside his usual partner in crime, Xavi Hernández, making over 140 passes, but also contributing with the highest number of tackles. Busi also made the joint-highest number of interceptions, boasted an incredibly high pass completion rate and he also won four fouls (another team-high). Normally, he would lose marks for the red card, but I still cannot quite fathom why the referee made the decision he did.

It was another good performance and clear indication – as if Saturday’s brace was not enough – that he has rediscovered his shooting boots. Those goals bring confidence, and this confidence brings general good play. His link-up play looks "crisper" if there is such a word; while he was brutally clinical in front of goal (one shots, one goal). The only worry is that he commits more turnovers than Andrés Iniesta, but can you leave him out after two great performances?

Quite simply, Xavi is a machine. He didn’t quite top the pile in terms of passes this time round, but his contribution was key to Barcelona’s victory. The only question ahead of the Clasico is who will partner Xavi in midfield? Cesc Fàbregas or Andrés Iniesta?

Sanchez was up against it from the word go given the aggressive nature of Benifca’s gameplan, but he held his own against some truly thuggish behaviour from the hosts and even found time to grab his first goal of the season. With Pedro faltering, it was vital that Alexis delivered, and to his credit he did. The goal itself was a real poacher’s effort, and while much was made about the Chilean strength/dribbling skills when he signed, it’s clear one of his greatest traits is his ability to be in the right place at the right time. Whether that’s making a smart run free of the last defender, or arriving late into the area, Sanchez has the potential to become a great goal-scorer; let’s hope he continues in that vein on Sunday.

Food for thought: Wayne Rooney lays on two assists against CFR Cluj for Robin Van Persie, and is lavished with praise from all sections of the media. Lionel Messi lays on two assists for his teammates against better opposition, and some people criticise his lack of goals? His passing was far more accurate on Tuesday, he had fewer shots, committed fewer turnovers, completed a number of dribbles and Messi even won a couple of headers – testing the keeper with one of those efforts. It was a fantastic performance, which should serve as good preparation for the Clasico ahead.

Usually I find ways to defend Pedro, but this was a sub-par performance from the Spaniard and as a result, he may find his place in the starting XI under threat. Booked (perhaps harshly) for diving, Pedro struggled to really get into the game, giving the ball away a number of times, and strangely enough, Pedro also failed to win a foul in his 82 minutes on the pitch.

It’s nice to see Iniesta back on the field, but after Puyol’s injury, the action really died down so it would be unfair to rate his performance.

A comfortable victory for the team, arguably a far easier victory than many of us expected,. Of course, Benfica still had their chances, but resorted to long shots for the most part and failed to really get in close to test Victor Valdes. The team conserved energy ahead of the weekend's crunch encounter with Real Madrid, it's just a shame that Carles Puyol couldn't complete the 90 minutes.

It was a strong selection from Tito, one that paid off handsomely. However, it's hard to really tell whether this was a successful game without seeing the result of the weekend's match as well. My only criticism is that Puyol shouldn't have completed more than an hour.

With no-one else really offering any substantial competition, Messi ran away with yet another MOTM award, and deservedly so given his two assists.