Ranking Barcelona's Top 5 Players for March 2016

March was almost a perfect month for FC Barcelona. They won three league games and progressed to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Their final match of the month was a disappointing draw against Villarreal, but El Madrigal is never an easy place to go, and they ended March on 76 points after 30 games, with Atletico Madrid nine points behind on 67 and Real Madrid 10 back on 66.

That has changed after defeat in the Clasico in April’s first game, with Barcelona only six points clear of Atletico and seven ahead of Real, but they are still favourites to win La Liga.

They managed to rack up 20 goals during their five games in March, an average of four per match. What follows are March's results and a countdown of Barcelona’s five best players for the month.

Rayo Vallecano 1-5 Barcelona (La Liga)
Eibar 0-4 Barcelona (La Liga)
Barcelona 6-0 Getafe (La Liga)
Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (Champions League)
Villarreal 2-2 Barcelona (La Liga)

5. Munir El Haddadi

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Munir El Haddadi only featured in two of the five games in March, starting against Eibar and Getafe, but he deserves his position in this list.

The youngster’s job is to always be ready, waiting patiently for an opportunity to play should any of the club's three star forwards—Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymer—not be available.

That’s why he started against Eibar, with Neymar suspended for the game, and Munir paid instant dividends.

In the eighth minute, he was in the right place at the right time to tap home a Suarez cross from the right after Messi had superbly played in the Uruguayan. He then got an assist for Messi’s first goal of the game, as Barcelona went on to win 4-0 at Ipurua.

Munir scored in the next game too, this time with Luis Suarez on the bench for a respite. Again, he showed Luis Enrique he was right to rest a striker and give him the job of filling in. He nodded home from a Messi cross-shot and performed well throughout.

Interestingly, the only games Munir played in led to Barcelona’s best two performances of the month. That may be more to do with the quality of the opposition than anything else, but Munir’s performances were more than adequate.

4. Javier Mascherano

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Gerard Pique has largely outshone Javier Mascherano this season, with the Spaniard one of Barcelona's finest players. But in March, it was his sidekick who impressed.

The Argentinian started the month in average form against Rayo Vallecano and Eibar, but his performances in the matches against Arsenal and Villarreal were good—or at least better than his defensive colleagues'.

Against Arsenal in the Champions League, he put in a quite phenomenal tackle on Danny Welbeck when the English forward was through on goal.

Then, against Villarreal, although Mascherano’s performance was not exceptional, he was still better than his team-mates at the back.

Jordi Alba played badly, Gerard Pique was lucky not to be sent off and Sergio Busquets offered no protection in front of the defence, but Mascherano’s stunning tackle on Adrian denied Villarreal a late winner. He single-handedly salvaged Barcelona a point from the match at El Madrigal.

3. Ivan Rakitic

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Ivan Rakitic had one of his best months in a Barcelona shirt in March. He doesn't always get the praise he deserves for his hard work.

The Croatian was important against Rayo, breaking the deadlock. Later, Diego Llorente hacked him, resulting in a red card for his opponent.

Against Eibar, he zipped up and down the pitch, helping the team transition from defence to attack. He demonstrated a perfect understanding of his role.

Although the Clasico does not fall into the parameters of the rankings, that was shown to be true when he was removed and Barcelona suddenly lost control of the match.

He worked tirelessly in midfield against Arsenal, creating a platform for the attacking three to go from, helping out Sergio Busquets, who was unable to exert as much influence as usual.

Finally, he was Barcelona's best player against Villarreal. It was his well-taken goal that opened the scoring, and he also kept Barcelona together while Busquets and Arda Turan faltered.

2. Neymar

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Neymar wasn't at his best in March, but even playing well was enough for him to tear defences apart. He did this to Rayo at Vallecas, as best demonstrated by his assist for Messi, even though he did not get on the scoresheet himself.

With four goals, though, he was the team's second-top scorer for the month, getting them all in the final three games after sitting out the game against Eibar through suspension.

He spent a few days in Brazil before returning refreshed to help crush Getafe at the Camp Nou. He earned a penalty and should have been given another while also finding the net twice.

This was followed up by a man-of-the-match display against Arsenal, a game in which he began to touch upon his best level.

Neymar opened the scoring against the English side before creating a fine chance for Messi, which the Argentinian somehow missed. He was the sparkle in Barcelona's display.

Like most of the team, he wasn't particularly good against Villarreal, but he still scored, chipping home from the penalty spot.

1. Lionel Messi

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Barcelona's best player in most months was also their best player in March. He was also the only one to play every minute.

Messi racked up seven goals and three assists to inspire Barcelona as they extended their run of unbeaten games to 39 in all competitions.

He rattled in a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano, the first two goals well-taken and the third a wonderful strike he created himself, bursting away from the defence and firing home clinically.

Messi was authoritative against Eibar, circulating the ball well and leaving no doubts about his finishing skills, either. He set up Luis Suarez to assist Munir El Haddadi's goal, tucked the second away himself and also scored a penalty.

There was no letting up against Getafe, when he put in a performance for which he could only receive full marks despite missing a penalty.

Messi produced a hat-trick of assists, one for Munir and two for Neymar, and if some of the other players' finishing had been better, he would have got more.

The Argentinian No. 10 scored after being set up by Arda Turan. A few days later, he netted again, this time with a wonderful chip over Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina.

Against Villarreal, he came deep a lot and sent through some wonderful through balls for the forwards. Neymar ran onto one of them and earned a penalty, which was successfully converted to make it 2-0, although Barcelona ended up drawing the game.