Supercopa de España: Atletico Madrid 1-1 FC Barcelona: Player Ratings

Considering how often Atletico Madrid launched a threatening attack Valdes had surprisingly little to do. He made two routine saves, but couldn't do anything to prevent David Villa from scoring the game's opening goal. Valdes was in good position, but El Guaje's shot was just too good. Other than that it was a largely uneventful game for the Barça goalkeeper.

Oh boy, Dani... In the two games that were played this season Alves' defense was generally non-existent. That was best seen in the goal Barcelona allowed when the counter attack came down the Brazilian's flank, but Alves was slowly strolling back to the penalty box. His passing was also uncharacteristically poor, as he completed only 85% of his attempts. But the pass that mattered the most for Barcelona in the game, Alves' cross to Neymar, was just about perfect and it might prove to be the difference maker in this tie.

You know how I praised Pique against Levante? Well, I take it all back. OK, maybe not everything, but his "defending" on Villa's goal was terrible. Villa was left with acres of space and all Pique needed to do was take two steps to the left and he would've blocked the shot, but instead he opted to be a spectator of the ball. And the fact that he was easily outrun by Villa in the second half is very concerning. It wasn't all bad though as Pique at times showed good position sense blocking a couple shots and making two tackles. And his cross-pitch pass to Alexis was a thing of beauty.

The only really bright spot in Barcelona's defense, Mascherano continues to show why he deserves a place on the defensive line. Mascherano was a clearing machine in this game recording six clearances and making five tackles, one a textbook example on how to dispossess a player in your own penalty area. Always in perfect position (from the left corner flag to the right) Mascherano was a true leader of the backline, often ordering his teammates around. The only real blemish in the Argentinian's game would be that he wasn't able to block Arda Turan's cross that led to Villa's goal.

It was a forgettable season debut for Jordi. Again given his usual very attacking orders Alba didn't have much impact in Barcelona's offense. In fact, on a few occasions he had the adverse affect as his passing wasn't where it was constantly last season – with a success rate over 90%. Defensively Alba was often caught out of position because of his offensive involvement, and because Diego Costa was playing on his side it really wasn't a good fit for the Catalan. Alba probably owes Mascherano a nice steak dinner for all the help he offered. A prime example of that came in the 81st minute when Alba coughed up the ball and Mascherano was there to make the tackle and stop the counter attack.

The defensive midfielder had a much harder game then he did at the weekend, making five tackles and two interceptions. Busquets played well in stopping potential Atletico counterattacks and played as a third centre back at times when both Jordi Alba and Dani Alves had pushed higher up the pitch. The Spaniard could have done more to prevent Atletico’s goal though by tracking David Villa’s run from midfield. Busquets was also arguably lucky not to see red in the second half for a challenge which could have resulted in his second yellow card and a few examples of going to ground easily crept back into his game. But overall Busquets had a good game and limited Atletico’s goal tally to just one.

Iniesta’s passing remained of the highest quality, but the midfielder didn’t have as much influence as he usually does in matches. Due to Atletico’s solid defensive work, Iniesta found space in and around the penalty area to be near non-existent and was forced to sit further back and try to start attacks from there. The number eight did manage to get a shot away that forced Courtois to parry the ball away. Uncharacteristically we saw a few uncontrolled touches when Iniesta was looking for his next pass instead of the ball, but as this is only the second match of the season and Iniesta’s first start we can attribute this to early-season roughness.

Up until Neymar’s introduction, Alexis Sánchez was far and away Barcelona’s best offensive performer – and judging by the statistics, the Chilean was also one of our best defenders too. That work ethic that kept him in the team last season surfaced once again, along with glimpses of that newfound confidence and maybe on another night it would have been Sánchez, not Neymar, who grabbed that all-important equaliser.

That might just have been the most subdued 45 minutes of Lionel Messi’s career. Even against Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, Messi at least contributed something, anything. But aside from a fairly wasteful long shot on the 23^rd minute, Messi had no impact on this game.

Following his brace against Levante, Pedro should have been full of confidence and ready to trouble the Atletico Madrid defense, but for whatever reason, he was unable to do so. Whether it was a lack of real support (Pedro was often isolated against one, two, three or even four Atletico defenders) or simply a poor performance, Pedro needs to get back on track – before Neymar takes his starting position.

Replacing Lionel Messi is a thankless task at the best of times, let alone away at the Vicente Calderon, with your team trailing by a goal. And even if Fàbregas was criticised for his performance on Wednesday evening, it’s impossible to deny the positive impact that his substitution had on the Blaugrana. In the first-half, Barcelona registered zero shots on target – with Fàbregas on the field, they mustered four, including Neymar’s crucial away-goal.

Proof – if any was needed – that there is still a lot of work to be done at the Camp Nou. On the training ground, and on the matchday Barcelona need to show a greater intensity; for the first-half, they were effectively "out-Barcelona’d" by their hosts. On the other hand, aside from Villa’s extraordinary goal, Barça gave up relatively few chances and displayed great resilience to fight back from that deficit to eventually tie the game. Could be better, but could be much worse.

Starting Lionel Messi seems an odd decision, although this assumes that he was injured all along – when he may have picked up the injury in the early stages of the first-half. Reacting to a poor first-half display, Martino’s substitutions swung the pendulum in Barcelona’s favour, culminating in Neymar’s excellent header.

With over half the vote, Neymar's goal was enough to secure him his first Man of the Match Award, with Mascherano finishing a clear second.