Camp Nou was the place where FC Barcelona had a derby visit from Espanyol in La Liga. We have the player ratings.
Barcelona have registered their first win under new head coach Xavi Hernandez as they beat Espanyol in a derby game in La Liga on Saturday night. This close victory has lifted the Catalan club to the sixth position in the domestic league table.
Periquitos missed out on the opportunity to show dominance over their neighbours as they now stay in the 11th spot in the league. Though, they could have turned the game around with some clear chances late in the encounter.
Be that as it may, Memphis Depay’s 48th-minute penalty was enough for the new boss to celebrate his first successful win. Surely, Xavi along with his entire team would be thrilled to kick-start a new era at Camp Nou.
Barcelona could have added more goals to their scorecard with efforts from Depay, Gavi, and Busquets, which were saved by Lopez. Moreover, the visitors were inches close to scoring goals on several occasions as Dimata missed an open chance while Tomas had two attempts on target.
With a win on their mind, Blaugrana will face Benfica in the Champions League during the midweek. Meanwhile, Espanyol will play against second-placed Real Sociedad in La Liga next time out.
Player ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (7), Pique (6), Garcia (7), Mingueza (5), Alba (7), Busquets (7), Gonzalez (7), De Jong (8), Chakkour (7), Gaviria (6), Depay (8).
Bench: Abdessamad (4), Puig (6), Demir (6), Coutinho (6), Araujo (6).
Espanyol: Lopez (7), Gomez (6), Cabrera (4), Vidal (6), Giner (5), Lopez (5), Embarba (3), Herrera (5), Darder (4), Puado (6), Tomas (5).
Bench: Morlanes (6), Melamed (6), Wu Lei (7), Dimata (5), Moron (6).
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