Granada vs. Barcelona: Score, Grades, Reaction from La Liga Game
Barcelona followed up their impressive Champions League victory over Manchester City in midweek with a routine 3-1 win over La Liga strugglers Granada on Saturday.
Luis Enrique’s side won the reverse fixture 6-0 at the Camp Nou back in September, with Neymar netting a hat-trick, Lionel Messi bagging a brace and Ivan Rakitic also getting on the scoresheet. And it was the latter who opened the scoring at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
After Luis Suarez was put through and scuffed his shot, the Croatian picked up the pieces to calmly sidefoot home with the goal at his mercy on 25 minutes.
It was a rather tame effort from Suarez, leading Bleacher Report to jest that he meant the assist, but Rakitic’s positioning was spot on.
The 26-year-old, who was quite simply sensational at the Etihad on Tuesday, was due to find the net, having been a little shy in front of goal over the last few months, as WhoScored.com revealed:
Rakitic then returned the favour for Suarez just four minutes after half time, as his elegant flick through was devoured by the Uruguayan with minimal fuss.
Suarez was another one of Barca’s outstanding performers against Manchester City, decisively finding the net twice, and he picked up where he left off by calmly sliding the ball under the onrushing Granada goalkeeper Oier Olazabal.
Bleacher Report’s Karl Matchett was one of many impressed with the fluidity of the move:
It looked as if Enrique’s side were going to cruise to another victory, but they suddenly found themselves pegged back as Fran Rico found the net from the penalty spot for the hosts.
Marc Bartra gave away the spot kick for a clumsy foul on Lass Bangoura just inside the box, although it’s safe to say that the Granada man made the most of it.
Either way, the underdogs were back in the match… but not for long.
Lionel Messi redeemed himself for his horror penalty miss in the Champions League by finding the net, but he owes much of his fortune to the brilliant Suarez.
The former Liverpool man rounded the keeper and could easily have slid the ball home, but decided to find his teammate instead—as Soccer Gods’ video shows:
From then on, Barca coasted to full time and now go within a point of league leaders Real Madrid at the top of the table.
Two very professional performances in one week from Enrique’s side, who are finding a bit of form ahead of El Classico on March 22.
Suarez, Rakitic and Messi were the stars of the show once again, and here’s how they and both sets of players rated, per WhoScored.com:
Ratings
| Player | Rating |
| Oier Olazabal | 6.85 |
| Allan Nyom | 6.78 |
| Jean-Sylvain Babin | 6.19 |
| Cala | 5.6 |
| Dimitri Foulquier | 6.32 |
| Fran Rico | 7.01 |
| Javi Moreno Marquez | 6.28 |
| Lassana Bangoura | 6.73 |
| Manuel Ittura | 6.25 |
| Robert Ibanez | 5.98 |
| Jhon Cordoba | 5.87 |
| Player | Rating |
| Claudio Bravo | 6.98 |
| Dani Alves | 7.27 |
| Jeremy Mathieu | 6.99 |
| Marc Bartra | 7.01 |
| Jordi Alba | 8.30 |
| Javer Mascherano | 8.07 |
| Ivan Rakitic | 8.74 |
| Xavi | 6.66 |
| Lionel Messi | 8.77 |
| Luis Suarez | 8.15 |
| Neymar | 7.29 |
Reaction
Barcelona manager was content with his team's solid performance against Granada, praising the impact of in-form striker Suarez in particular, per Marca:
"I'm very happy, and satisfied with the good work done by my team in the difficult circumstances surrounding the game. I congratulate the two sides on keeping their feet on this surface. In every game, the opposing side uses every tactic they can to neutralise our attacking strength. We have tried to be a bit more forceful and direct to get ahead and not risk missing out on the final score. Ever since he [Suarez] started playing he has been top quality, and now with his goals he is doing things which are even more to the liking of our fans, but for us he has always done a special and useful job.
"
