La Liga: FC Barcelona 5-2 Getafe CF: Player Ratings

A rare sub-par game for the Barcelona back-up goalkeeper. He started well, with a couple good plays, including a save on Marica, but he should've done better on Escudero's goal as he didn't do enough to close down the angle. Pinto looked shaky all game long with his passes, especially when pressured, but to his credit he did complete all but one. He had to be alert in the 32nd minute when a corner kick would've gone straight in, but Pinto punched the ball out. In the second half Pinto didn't have much to do even though there was plenty of action in and around his penalty box.

The return from injury didn't quite go as Alves probably planed it. His positioning was quickly exposed as he was supposed to cover Escudero on the first goal, a task he failed miserably at. At the half hour mark he made a clumsy tackle that earned him a yellow card. And his crossing, don't even get me started about his crossing. But it wasn't all bad for Alves as he was able to showcase some good dribbling abilities and created a pair of scoring chances that went begging. His offense, however, has never been question, but his defense absolutely must improve.

Pique could've, should've even, started the game with a bang, but he couldn't put the ball into the back of the net. And it all went downhill from there. His poor defending on Lafita directly led to the opening goal of the game, and he needlessly gave up two corner kicks, the second of which resulted in the second goal by Getafe. It didn't get much better in the second half. First he picked up a yellow card for an elbow, and was then his "coverage" nearly led to a goal by Castro. All in all it was a very forgettable showing by Pique.

The Argentine had a solid game for Barcelona in the heart of the defense, but where he was on Getafe's second of the night is still a puzzle to me. There were a couple more plays where he could've made a better play, including in the 28th minute when Busquets saved what appeared to be a certain goal after Alba and Mascherano both whiffed. But Mascherano also made several great plays, leading the team in tackles and clearances. Hopefully El Jefecito can build on this performance and become a shutdown defender once again.

Alba had a good day offensively, making a couple perfectly timed overlapping runs that created a couple half chances for the Catalans. One of the passes even led to Pedro's third of the game, though Alba wasn't credited with an assist because it was redirected by a Getafe defender. Alba combined excellent with Iniesta all game long. He did, however, turn the ball over plenty of times, including several on off-the-mark crosses. Defensively he had an up and down game, making a couple solid plays, but have was also often out of position and had to rely on Mascherano for support.

Busquets has really hit form these past couple of months and this was shown again today. Similar to the whole team, Busquets was not so great in the opening twenty minutes and then superb after that. During Getafe’s dominance, Busi should’ve come across and closed down Segio Escudero who went on to score the game’s opening goal and could’ve also done more in the marking of Lisandro López who scored Getafe’s second. But after that, Busquets played with the calmness that has come to epitomise his game, helping Barcelona to convert Getafe attacks into Barça goals. A very good game overall and a convenient yellow card means Busquets misses Elche at home before returning for Atlético Madrid away.

Another impressive performance from the youngster. Seemingly unfazed by his first Liga start, during the opening stages Sergi Roberto really put himself about the pitch and found himself free in Getafe’s box when Barcelona were 2-0 down. Unfortunately the 21 year old blasted his shot over and wasted Barcelona’s chance at getting back into the game. After that though, Sergi really contributed to the game and helped Iniesta maintain dominance in midfield. A 93% pass success rate show Sergi Roberto really is built in the mould of Xavi.

Iniesta was really pulling the strings from midfield today. Almost 100 passes made with a success rate of 93% allowed Barcelona to assert midfield dominance in the style seen during Guardiola’s reign. Iniesta also picked up his third assist of the season, a well placed diagonal ball into the feet of Pedro who finished superbly. With Xavi out, it was important for Iniesta to play maturely and he did so, which helped Barcelona win the game. A very nice match for the man who signs his new contract tomorrow.

It was another quiet night for Alexis Sánchez, who appears to have lost his title as Barcelona’s in-form striker to both Neymar and Pedro. In itself, that’s good news for the Blaugrana – but probably bad news for the Chilean, who now looks set to lose his starting place to Pedro. Can Alexis get himself back onto the scoresheet after the winter break?

Cesc Fàbregas certainly gave a passable impression of a false nine on Sunday afternoon, silencing his critics with a brilliant display from the centre of the Barça attack. Admittedly, he doesn’t dribble past defenders like Messi or Neymar, but he does add a different dimension to the offense – as he demonstrated yesterday, operating as an enganche to drop deep and create space for the two wingers, which Pedro utilised to deadly effect.

Barcelona would have lost last night’s match if not for the contributions of Pedro – and as such, it’s only fair that we reflect those contributions with a perfect "10" rating. After all, Pedro scored each of his first three shots – and will be disappointed that he didn’t score with his fourth and final effort, although he did atone for that miss by earning a penalty. Simply sublime.

Cristian Tello replaced the hat-trick hero with the three points in the bag, and didn't do enough to earn a full rating.

The first fifteen minutes were disastrous. The next fifteen weren't much better either, but the remaining hour of the match was thankfully much better -- arguably producing some of the best football of the season.

Martino was criticised before the match for starting Javier Mascherano ahead of Marc Bartra -- although the Argentine was probably our best defender. So why such a low rating?

With an incredible 96% of the vote, Pedro deservedly claimed the Man of the Match award for his scintillating first-half hat-trick.