Copa del Rey El Clasico: FC Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid: Player Ratings

Pinto put in another uninspiring performance in net for Barcelona. He was beaten twice by shots that could've been stopped and on quite a few occasions he looked like he wasn't well positioned. Pinto also received some help from the right crossbar. But it wasn't all bad for the Barcelona goalkeeper who finished the game with five saves including a couple very solid ones and even made a few good looking defensive plays.

Pinto might have had a poor game on this night, but Alves was downright terrible. He was incredibly wasteful in attack, attempting 15 (!) crosses, completing only four. By the way, all other Barcelona players on the pitch combined for 15 crosses. To be fair, a couple of Alves' crosses did cause some havoc, but overall not much positive happened from his work on the right side. Defensively the Brazilian didn't fare much better as both Real Madrid goals were scored down his flank, the first actually started with his turnover.

For Bartra this was a very bittersweet game. First of all, Bartra never would've even appeared in this one had Barcelona had any center-backs healthy, because Bartra himself was barely considered fit.  But that didn't stop the young man from making several good plays in Barcelona's defensive third and, even more importantly, scored the tying goal midway through the second half with a brilliant header. That was the "sweet" part, but the "bitter" part led to a Real Madrid goal as Bartra wasn't able to stop Bale on the quick counter attack that resulted in the winning goal.

Mascherano had a very up and down game, struggling one minute, but making a brilliant play in the next. He made two goal saving plays, one in each half. In the first he made a last ditch block on Bale's shot that appeared destined for the back of the net, and in the second he made a brilliant tackle in the 80th minute to dispossess Benzema on what would've been a one-on-one with Pinto. But Mascherano also wasn't always in the perfect position to make plays that needed to be made.

Jordi Alba was probably Barcelona's best player in the first half. Continuously he was a threat in attack, making several good runs behind the Real Madrid defense and even won a header in the opposing penalty box, sending a shot on goal. But Alba's contributions weren't only limited to the attack as he also saved a near certain goal with a block on Isco's shot. However, the left-back's performance was cut short by an injury and he didn't return from the locker room at the start of the second half.

Busquets seemed very wary of a Madrid counterattack and therefore sat very deep for the majority of the match. Meaning the midfield shaped up like a V and the usual line. This resulted in him having less control over the game and not really an attacking presence until towards the end of the game. He produced a good defensive performance but ultimately wasn’t there when Bale broke forward and scored the winner.

Xavi seems to have dropped deeper recently and is therefore finding it harder to link up with Messi on a regular basis. That was a similar story for the game against Madrid, playing relatively deep but when he did get forward his eye for a pass looked like Barcelona’s best way of scoring. In fact it was him who provided the assist for Bartra, an out-swinging corner which eventually landed in Madrid’s net. Effective when he got forward, but these advances were too few and far between.

Quiet again from Fàbregas. The formation that fields four midfielders just doesn’t play to Cesc’s strength and he is often left looking for a role to play. Against Madrid, he was often in no man’s land. Not high enough to provide a real threat and not deep enough to provide defensive cover. Main positive was his high pass success rate but that was largely due to the majority of his passes being simple.

Had the best chance to equalize but hit the post. The Brazilian was definitely one of the more lively of Barca's front line but was simply not effective enough. Like the rest of the team, Neymar was guilty of slowing down the attack a bit too much by holding on to the ball and then passing back to midfield when the opponent packed the area. Fans will probably forgive him for his mistakes this season but will demand to see drastic improvement next year.

Seemed uninterested for large parts of the game. Lack of space and being shut down by a minimum 2 (and usually 3) players every time he touched the ball, didn't help. That said, one gets the feeling Messi needs to up his game while also getting some sort of support from his team mates. There were no runs from deep, by midfielders or any intelligent runs by the forwards (in this case Neymar and Iniesta).

Replacing the injured Jordi Alba at half-time in a Clasico can’t be an easy task, and it was reflected by Adriano’s performance off the bench. It wasn’t that he played badly, it’s just that he couldn’t fill in the glaring gap left by Alba, either on the offensive or defensive end. Had Adriano replaced Alves, this rating might have been very different indeed.

Tactically, this switch was huge. Pedro entered the field with Cesc Fàbregas headed to the bench,  marking a switch back to the traditional Barcelona 4-3-3. The width returned, and with it came a little more discipline to the Barça attack. While Pedro himself didn’t do a lot with his time on the pitch, his introduction appeared to make life easier for the supporting cast – although I am   disappointed that the chance in the final minute didn’t fall to him rather than Neymar.

A late substitute, Alexis Sánchez apparently didn’t take too kindly to such a cameo role. In Tata’s defense, the match was headed for extra-time prior to Gareth Bale’s somewhat unexpected goal, so Sánchez could have had a starring role in any additional period. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and obviously Alexis had little impact in such a restricted role.

Maybe I’m in the minority once again, but I didn’t think this was an entirely bad performance. There were aspects that I didn’t like, of course. There were players that I thought underperformed, and others that shone. But overall, was it really that bad? A lack of creativity was disappointing, but we were still mere inches away from forcing extra-time. Arguably we were one fit defender away from stopping Bale scoring the winner. I’m not making excuses – we could have done better, but I think the whole Bayern Munich debacle proved that we could have sunk much lower too.

I would have gone for the "four midfielders" approach as well. In hindsight, it wasn’t the right call. Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti had adapted well, but were still susceptible and you have to believe that on another night, Lionel Messi would have had more of an impact. Given the circumstances (injuries), it’s tough to be too harsh on Martino.

Hard to argue with the community on this selection as Bartra had an all around very solid game which he capped of with Barcelona's only goal so it comes as no surprise to see him run away with this award. Iniesta finished a distant second with a measly 11% while Messi rounded out the top three with two percent less than Iniesta.