La Liga: Elche CF 0-6 FC Barcelona: Player Ratings

Bravo is making this goalkeeping thing look easy once again, finishing yet another game with a clean sheet. Against Elche he wasn’t called much into action, only making a trio of saves, but when he needed to make the save he did just that. He had to make all the saves in the first half, the best two coming in a two minute stretch midway through the half, both on Faycal Fajr, both times anticipating the direction of the shot excellently. As usual, Bravo’s passing was excellent and he dealt with the only high cross into his area very well.

This was a very classic Montoya game, excellent in defense, but left much to be desired in attack. He led the team in tackles with four and was all around very solid in the back third, though there were a couple of hiccups none of them led to a chance for the opponents. In attack Montoya made a few good looking plays, like the one-two with Messi early in the game, but he was often indecisive with the ball. Montoya made a couple of encouraging runs, including a beautiful one past Edu Albacar, which show promise for future performances.

This was not one of Bartra’s better games of the season as he at times looked quite shaky at the back, most notably early in the second half when his errant pass led to a chance for Elche. He was also not positionally sound as he usually is, losing track of Faycal Fajr midway through the first half, but Bravo was there to spare him the blushes. But Bartra improved as the game went on, capping the game off with a beautiful assist on Messi’s second goal of the game.

Throughout the game Alba was very active, both on offense and on defense. His passing accuracy, however, was uncharacteristically poor which resulted in some premature endings to Barcelona’s attacks. On the other hand, however, Alba also helped create a couple of chances for Barcelona. He even tried his luck with a pair of shots, the first a powerful half-volley, but both went wide of the target. Alba was subbed off roughly with roughly 20 minutes to play, just minutes after picking up a yellow card for a late foul.

Playing in his natural position, Mascherano put in a very effective performance of protecting the back four. His three tackles and one interception meant Elche didn’t attack the defence enough to cause any real problems. The scoreline was always likely to be comfortable but Mascherano made sure Elche’s chances were restricted to a minimum.

Xavi made Barça tick against Elche and it was his quick thinking that earned Barça their first goal. Noticing Piqué was calling for it, Xavi quickly took the free kick and the defender slotted it home. From then on, Xavi became his usual metronome self, kicking the ball round for fun before seeing an opening and taking the pass. 97% pass success rate pretty much says it all.

Another chance for Rafinha to impress and unlike his last few starts he actually put in a good performance. He played with his head up, looking for any cutting passes which would open up Elche. He wasn’t quite on the level of his midfield partner Xavi but he also put in a solid defensive shift.

Was overshadowed by Messi and Neymar, but his intense and relentless pressing led the Barcelona front line and forced Elche’s defence into many errors; one of which led to the first goal (after a late challenge by Sergio Pelegrin). The Spaniard scored a late tap-in after a quick counter-attack. Yet Pedro didn’t do enough to force Luis Enrique into giving him a run in the team for an extended period of time.

Continued his scintillating form of late with a couple of goals and two more assists. Messi also made four turnovers as well as four key passes. Indeed, it was his ability to set up teammates which really stood out. Messi asked a lot of questions and the Elche defence simply had no answer. Outstanding. He was everywhere.

The Brazilian was good in the first-half but came to life in the second and became truly stunning. His tricks and skills were a joy. His movement both with and without the ball was immense.  Scored twice from only two shots on goal and therefore displayed his clinical finishing. He won the crucial penalty early in the second-half. Neymar also assisted Pedro unselfishly with a beautiful run and cross. As Ray Hudson put it, "Neymar! Neymar! He should come with a health warning on his shirt – A biohazard is what Neymar is." His relationship with Messi both on and off-the-pitch is improving on a daily basis and this improvement is enabling Neymar to reach new heights on a weekly basis. As Jose Miguel Wisnik would put it, "It’s pure ellipse football."

Entering the game as a late substitute, Sergio Busquets executed his role to perfection; he wasn't flash in possession but he was accurate. His positioning was excellent and he broke up the play wonderfully to complete as many challenges as Mascherano in under a third of the time. Effective.

The Brazilian didn't feature an awful lot at the start of the season, but has seen his game time increase back to more normal levels in recent weeks and months. He's probably still not at his best, but remains as dependable as ever.

After tearing this very Elche side to pieces in the Copa del Rey, Sergi Roberto will have been pleased to get some more time at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero. Maybe he wasn't as impressive, but he was quietly effective nonetheless.

I wasn't actually impressed, probably with the entire first-half, or for the opening ten minutes of the second-half. Our attack wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite as fluid as it had been in the previous few matches, while our possession was in truth a little sterile. Then we got that second goal and pretty much turned it up a few notches from there on in, all without wasting too much energy. A great performance.

Are we still allowed to be harsh? Well, even if we aren't I'm going to voice a few of my opinions: Neymar should have been rested towards the end of the match and some of the other substitutions could have made a little earlier as well. Nothing major though, another good night for Lucho.

No surprises here: Lionel Messi cleaned up with nearly three-quarters of the vote after his two goal, two assist display. Neymar claimed runner-up with 22% of the vote, with Gerard Pique trailing well behind in third with 4%.