La Liga: FC Barcelona 6-0 Rayo Vallecano: Player Ratings

Given Barcelona’s dominance over the course of the 90 minutes, Victor Valdés was rarely challenged in the Blaugrana goal, but when Rayo Vallecano did venture forward, the Catalan shot-stopper was equal to their efforts. In particular, Valdés had to keep his composure to deny Iago Falque and Ruben Rochina on a couple of occasions over the night; even if his pass completion was below par, this was a solid performance for Valdés.

I’m in the minority that believe Dani Alves is still far and away the best right-back in the world, but after another impressive performance last night, there may be a few more Culés ready to give Alves the recognition he deserves. Dani led the team in tackles (again), won a few aerial duels and created a whole bunch of chances for his teammates, consistently offering himself as an option in Barcelona’s free-flowing offense. Make no mistake; Alves is just as integral to this team as Lionel Messi or Andrés Iniesta.

Even though Carles Puyol was on the field, one could make a convincing argument to say that Gerard Piqué was the defensive leader last night, marshalling the backline to another clean sheet. In a sense, it’s ironic that so many people doubt his talents given that he was hand-picked by Pep Guardiola to start in defense from day one – and given that he has been one of the names on the teamsheet for Pep, Tito and Tata. Surely all three managers can’t be wrong?

It was a pleasure to see Puyi back on the field after a brief spell on the sidelines, especially as he looked a little like his old self. The commitment was obviously there; from his attempt at winning an offensive header which resulted in him landing on top of a helpless Rayo defender to his incredible sliding challenges which helped keep the pressure up against the Rayo offense. It was also clear that Puyol was a little rusty and of course, he was seen with an ice pack strapped to his knee at the end of his night, but all in all, it was still a good showing.

If this was a five-star performance from the Blaugrana, Adriano’s early goal was a sumptuous appetiser before the delightful main course; it might not have been quite as spectacular as previous Adriano golazos but it was still a great goal in its own right. Will this performance be enough to displace Jordi Alba ahead of the tie with Manchester City? That’s doubtful, but it must be comforting to know what an able back-up we have in the Brazilian.

Busquets was really key at pushing high which helped to trap Rayo in their defensive area. This helped Barcelona keep possession and minimize defensive duties for him and the back four. When Rayo did get forward, Busquets was quick to drop deep into the back line and cover, earning Barcelona their clean sheet. Passing as usual was excellent, over 90% success rate. A good display but Tuesday will be a huge test for him.

Following on from his superb display midweek, Andrés Iniesta was again brilliant against Rayo. Pulling the strings from the heart of midfield and producing skill that lead the Spanish newspaper AS to compare him to the Sistine Chapel. He started brightly, attempting to lob the keeper from the halfway line and continued in the same vain. Popping up all over the pitch and cutting through the defence with an expertly timed pass. The Iniesta of old is definitely back.

Most likely stemming from his time at La Masia, Fàbregas seems to have a telepathic understanding with Messi and this was shown tonight. After recovering the ball twice in the same phase of play, the Spaniard picked out the Argentine with an accurate, early ball, Messi then completed the move with a great chip over the keeper. After Messi left the field, Fàbregas pushed further forward and intricate one-twos with Iniesta and co. made him a constant danger. A great night for the number four and he may have confirmed his place in the Man City starting XI.

Another game, another goal and an assist. We should all be thanking our stars that we didn't sell Alexis Sanchez. His post match comment says it all "happy for the goal but i can still improve in one-on-one situations". The combination of pace, power, hard work was great and now we can add finishing as well. Nobody could have guessed how effective he would be. By the way, he is now 3rd in list of top scorers in La Liga.

MOTM? Probably should be shared with Iniesta and Cesc but Leo was unstoppable today. If 2 goals and an assist weren't enough, he also broke Alfredo Di Stefano's record and Telmo Zarra's. The man is definitely back but in addition to his usual lethal self, Messi worked extremely hard to make sure Rayo's defenders didn't have time on the ball. In this form, Kompany and co. would do well to forget an uber-attacking style on Tuesday.

Great game. He was on the end of a brilliant team move to score his 13th Liga goal and an assist to top it off. Although the first half saw both our wingers being guilty of making a pass too many, one really can't complain after a match like that. Pedro really is reborn this season and is back to being Pedrito. Better still, he's making it extremely difficult for Tata to choose who starts.

For about 25 minutes, Neymar’s comeback was remarkably understated. He was a step or two behind the pace of the game and his touch was uncharacteristically loose. Even his dribbling seemed a fraction "off". All it takes, however, and all it took was one moment, one dribble, one shot...that’s what the world’s best players bring to the table. Welcome back Neymar!

Not perfect, but not far off either. Yeah, it was only Rayo Vallecano and of course, Barcelona still gave up chances but that doesn’t mean we should overlook or belittle the display either. When we defeated Almeria 8-0 away from home we were keenly reminded by most pundits that it was only Almeria, and that the opposing manager (a close friend of Guardiola’s) made it easy for Barça by failing to compromise his usual offensive philosophy. However, the same basic principles behind that win resurfaced a week later. The end result? A 5-0 victory against Real Madrid.

¸Resting Xavi was a good decision, both for this match and for Tuesday – while the reintroduction of Neymar worked beautifully as well.

Considering he scored two goals and added an assist it comes to little surprise that Messi won the community voting by garnering 49% of the votes. But you could also make a good case for Iniesta (25%) and Cesc (23%) who finished second and third, respectively.