La Liga: FC Barcelona 7-0 CA Osasuna: Player Rating

The Barcelona goalkeeper had a quiet game, though at the beginning it looked like he would have to be a saving grace for Barça once again. At the 10 minute mark he made an excellent save on Emiliano Armenteros' long range effort. He did leave the rebound in a dangerous spot, but he was helped out by an offside call that ruled out the goal. Valdes made another very good save on a second half Roberto Torres effort. But what was most satisfying to see was the he looked comfortable when collecting high balls.

Up until the last five minutes of the game Alves appeared to be having a quiet game despite being involved in attack a lot and also helping out defensively. But that changed in the dying moments of the game when, like against Manchester City, Alves stepped it up on offense. First he supplied a lovely, unselfish assist to Messi who completed his hat-trick. And then, just two minutes later, Alves was once again a key member in the play build-up that ended with Pedro completing the scoring. Dani also had a good shot on goal in the first half, but he saw it saved by Andres.

Like Mascherano, Bartra too had a quiet game, but the way the game ended that's hardly surprising. The young center-back always appeared to be in perfect position and he anticipated the Osasuna play excellently. But even when he was caught slightly out of position he made up for it with excellent tackling. He did make one big mistake just before the one hour mark, when he misjudged the flight of the ball and missed the clearance, but the Osasuna player behind him was unable to make him pay for the whiff.

Mascherano had a good, solid game in the heart of he Barcelona defense, leading the team in both clearances and interceptions. He was constantly in good position making plays all over the defensive third. His contributions were especially noticeable on the left side of the defensive line where he often helped out Alba. The one mark against Mascherano was a nasty and unnecessary tackle he made in the second half that earned him a yellow card.

To me it was a tale of two Albas in this one: the attacking one and the defending one. The attacking one was absolutely brilliant, having a large impact on the opening goal of the game and picked up an assist on the Alexis goal. The attacking Alba also combined excellently with Iniesta and Pedro creating a few chances for the pair. The defensive Alba wasn't as dominating, in fact he was error prone as evidenced by two mistakes he made, one in each half, that gifted good chances to Osasuna. Considering how he played against Manchester City in defense this was a slight disappointment, but overall Alba still had a fantastic game.

A fairly quiet night for Busquets as Osasuna were rarely allowed to push forward. This was largely due to Barcelona’s midfield dominance which Busquets contributed to, making over 100 passes with a success rate of 96%. There was one slight concern though as Mascherano gave away a needless free kick. The resultant ball in was misjudged by Busquets but luckily the shot blazed over. Nevertheless a good game for Busi.

Another great performance from the vice-captain. Xavi combined beautifully with his midfield partner Iniesta to really press home Barcelona’s advantage. Showing a willingness to push forward, Xavi was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet having connected sweetly with an Iniesta cross. Unsurprisingly his passing was excellent which helped Barcelona maintain control of the game. A 97% success rate before he left the field in the 62nd minute, readying him for next week’s Clásico.

Possibly Iniesta’s best performance of the season. He was bright, seemingly everywhere and scored a wonderful goal. His ability to float around all areas of the pitch, picking up the ball before realising a pinpoint pass was shown all throughout this game. This skill helped him pick up two assists, the first coming from an intricate one-two with Messi in the area which resulted in the Argentine becoming the club’s all time top-scorer. The second a simple pass for Tello’s wonder goal. Then there was his goal. A perfectly hit curler with his weaker foot from the edge of the area nestled in the right side of the Osasuna net. Iniesta’s first goal from open play this season and what a goal it was.

Like his counterpart on the opposite wing, Alexis has made a very strong case to start against Real Madrid. He was subbed out with about 15 minutes to go but Alexis managed to add a goal and an assist to his tally. Alexis now has 17 goals in the Liga season, placing him 4th on the Pichichi list (the top 3 being Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa and Messi). Against Osasuna, Alexis was brilliant when he was looking to create from the wings.

All time top scorer in the history of a club as big and prestigious as Barca at the age of 26 says it all. Lionel Messi is definitely back doing what he's good at. 3 goals and an assist while breaking a record was enough to send a message to Europe. Messi at his best is practically unplayable. 4 out of his 5 shots were on target, 3 hit the back of the net. If Messi stays in form next week, Barca definitely stand a chance.

All our players stuck out versus Osasuna. Pedro was all about the energy and using his pace to keep the opponent off balance. Great link up play and a great match was capped by a truly well deserved goal in the 90th minute.

With roughly half an hour left on the clock and Barcelona three goals to the good, it was Alex Song and not Neymar who was the first off the bench. Presumably Martino felt it was necessary to protect Xavi with a week to go until the most important match of the season and let’s be honest, we could have even played the remainder of the match with 10 men! Song evidently wasn’t on the same page as the likes of Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and company, but really, what did it matter? The game was over anyway.

And Neymar didn’t even get on the field at the next substitution; Cristian Tello was readied and made an immediate impact curling a beautiful goal (his first of the La Liga season) into the far corner. It was a trademark Tello strike, and I’d love to see more of that as we approach the business end of the season.

Proof – if any was needed – that the game was over: Adriano Correia came on for the final ten minutes, replacing Javier Mascherano at centre-half. That’s a backline of Dani Alves, Marc Bartra, Adriano and Jordi Alba – that’s how dominant Barça were that night.

This wasn’t quite perfection, but it was close enough for me – Barcelona were at their very best last night, playing with a swagger and an intent that we so rarely see these days. Yes, Osasuna are not a great side and no, they do not travel well, but they still needed to be beaten and I’d say the guys used excessive force. It could have easily been double figures and for that, I can have no complaints.

Recognizing that the team would benefit in this match from a fluid 4-3-3 system with Andrés Iniesta in midfield was one of Martino’s better decisions on Sunday – but the real test will come next weekend. Hopefully this result won’t inflate his confidence too much – Barcelona still need to play that 4-4-2 (like) system at the Santiago Bernabeu.

In a landslide Messi ran away with the Man of the Match award with a remarkable 76% of the votes. A distant second was Iniesta with a "measly" 17%. Probably on every other game the performance Iniesta put in would've been enough for the MotM award, but they way Messi played it would be unfair of me not to give my vote to Messi as well.