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Barcelona logo
Champions League | Group Stage
Sep 29, 2015 at 7.45pm UK
 
Leverkusen logo

2-1

Roberto (80'), Suarez (82')
FT(HT: 0-1)

Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Sports Mole analyses how the players fared in Barcelona's dramatic 2-1 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou.

Barcelona scored twice in the final 10 minutes to beat a spirited Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Camp Nou on matchday two of the Champions League.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos's first-half header was enough to give the Germans a slender but deserved 1-0 half-time lead in their second game in Group E.

However, Sergi Roberto tapped home a hard-earned equaliser on 80 minutes, before Luis Suarez curled home the second moments later to add insult to injury for Leverkusen.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains on a night when the Catalans got away with one.

Barcelona's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez celebrates a goal with his teammates during the UEFA Champions League football match FC Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on September 29, 2015.



BARCELONA

Goal

Marc-Andre ter Stegen: Pulled off a couple of smart saves to keep out the wasteful Hernandez at the beginning of both halves, but largely untested aside from that. (7/10)

Defence

Dani Alves: Continues to look a little rusty but fared much better in the second half after a testing opening 45 minutes. (5/10)

Gerard Pique: Turned inside out by Bellarabi in the first half, and could, and should, have scored an equaliser in the final 20 minutes but his tame header lacked the direction to trouble Leno. (4/10)

Javier Mascherano: Looked much better compared to his horror show at Celta Vigo eight days ago. Moved into midfield during the second half and looked just as solid there. (7/10)

Jeremy Mathieu: Simply put, his role in Leverkusen's opener was nothing short of pathetic as he refused to even challenge Papadopoulos in the air. Filled in at left-back again but was found wanting at both ends, in both halves. (3/10)

Midfield

Sergio Busquets: Shielded his back four well in the second half but the way in which Leverkusen found an abundance of space in the first half was worrying. (6/10)

Andres Iniesta: Left the field injured on the hour mark but was uncharacteristically sloppy during his time on the field, unable to influence Barca in the final third. (4/10)

Ivan Rakitic: Could, and should, have opened the scoring after connecting with Neymar's floated cross early on, but his header was woeful. Like Iniesta, looked lost without Messi ahead of him. (4/10)

Attack

Luis Suarez: Spent some 82 minutes on the periphery, but still struck the decisive blow in fine fashion. Nowhere near his best, but decisive again for the second time in four days. With Lionel Messi injured, Barca need him to step up. (6/10)

Neymar: Hit the post in the first half, and volleyed another just wide after the break but relatively quiet other than that. (5/10)

Sandro: Replaced the injured Messi and had chances to minimise the Argentine's absence, but fluffed three superb opportunities. Subbed on the hour mark for Munir. (4/10)

Substitutes

Jordi Alba: His pace caused Leverkusen big problems down the left-hand side, and his cute cross led to the equaliser. (7/10)

Sergi Roberto: Not always involved but the youngster dragged Barcelona back into the contest with the equaliser. (7/10)

Munir El Haddadi: Should have scored late on, but more than made up for it with an excellent assist for Suarez's winner. (7/10)



BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Goal

Bernd Leno: Produced some excellent saves to keep out the likes of Sandro and Pique in both halves, but his good work was undone when he spilled Suarez's effort which led to the winner. (5/10)

Defence

Jonathan Tah: Solid for the most part but he could have been tighter to Sergi en route to the hard-earned equaliser. (6/10)

Kyriakos Papadopoulos: If there was one player who did not deserve to be on the losing side, it was the Greek, who produced fine contributions at both ends - including the opener. (8/10)

Guilio Donati: Excellent for his 75-minute spell as he coped brilliantly with the interchanging Suarez and Neymar. (7/10)

Wendell: Certainly has the pace and trickery and trouble right-back Alves, but he did not flex his offensive muscle once in both halves. (5/10)

Midfield

Lars Bender: Sat in front of his back four well, as usual, and helped render the likes of Rakitic and Iniesta mere spectators for much of their outings. (7/10)

Kevin Kampl: Huge reason as to why Leverkusen looked so dangerous in the first half as he caused Mathieu no end of problems, but he could, and should, have scored at least once. (6/10)

Hakan Calhanoglu: Produced a fine delivery from Papadopoulos's opener to enhance his reputation as a set-piece specialist, but spent the remainder of the contest somewhat on the periphery. (5/10)

Christoph Kramer: Beaten by Munir far too easily in the build-up to Suarez's winner in a moment that took the gloss off a strong, hard-working performance. (5/10)

Karim Bellarabi: Arguably Leverkusen's best player on the night as he proved a constant threat to Barcelona's defence - and Pique, in particular - and unlucky not to score in the first half. (8/10)

Attack

Javier Hernandez: Hauled off on 55 minutes after a very disappointing night, in which he missed some glorious chances and undermined Leverkusen's counter-attacks with loose passing. (3/10)

Substitutes

Stefan Kiessling: Ineffective and lacked the pace to trouble Barcelona one bit. (4/10)

Julian Brandt: Replaced the excellent Bellarabi but the visitors' attack became much more blunt from that moment on. (3/10)

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Barcelona's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez celebrates a goal with his teammates during the UEFA Champions League football match FC Barcelona vs Bayer Leverkusen at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on September 29, 2015.
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Match Analysis: Barcelona 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
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