Ivan Rakitić

[Barcaman]

Looked awful at times but like Busquets picked up his game.

 

[Raketa10]

Great second half

 

[Thiago10]

Very decent second half, surprisingly

 

[Andresito]

Wonder what he ate during the halftime break. What a second half.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Great second half, played most important part in 1st goal IMO

 

[evilhita666]

He was actually good today... He's had a decent run of games lately, to be honest....

 

[Sultan]

Excellent game today. Fantastic run for the first goal!

 

[Raki13]

Had a great game today although there were a couple of times he should have shot when he had the chance.

 

[bodi16]

Reminded me of his first season at Barca as his passing was quite solid.

 

[Windhook]

Defensively he was great all game, didn't leave any space for Madrid's midfield.

 

[ASordidGod]

Great second half, played most important part in 1st goal IMO

Busquets was most important part imo, without his composure there's no goal, simple as. But yes, excellent contribution from Rakitic too.

 

[serghei]

Great that he was able to think that play and realise that it's better to run with the ball than just pass it to Messi every time. Madrid disrespected Rakitic there, thinking he is not worthy of being tracked and he ran with the ball like a boss 60m or so.

More of this please. Make teams pay for giving you too much space because you're not considered worth blocking. Do this often enough and teams will take notice, and as a result our strong on the ball players like Messi, Iniesta and hopefully soon Coutinho will have more space.

 

[Barcaman]

Defensively he was great all game, didn't leave any space for Madrid's midfield.

Wish I thought the same. That clear chance Ronaldo missed was on him as he failed to follow his man. Had Madrid scored there, who knows what would have happened.

 

[Neeraj]

Rakitic did not have a great game. He was awful didst half and was better in the second. The run for the first goal is making people see his performance with rose tinted glasses. And it wasn't even a spectacular run in terms of difficulty, he was just left all alone to do as he pleased (thanks to the nightmare that is Messi). I'll agree he was not as bad as he was at the start of the season, but we can't keep our expectations of a barca midfielder so low that an average performance warrants praise.

 

[Windhook]

Wish I thought the same. That clear chance Ronaldo missed was on him as he failed to follow his man. Had Madrid scored there, who knows what would have happened.

Should have said after the 20th minute. It wasn't just Rakitic. Busquets and Pique were also nervous, as Valverde's post-match words - RM were pressuring a lot at the start, just like every BernaLEO El Clasico.