BARCELONAValdes: 6.5 - Despite Barcelona's dominance he had to make a couple of good saves, particularly from Iturraspe in the 80th minute.
Puyol: 7.5 - Almost seemed to be Dani Alves-esque as he often cut inside and operated inside the Athletic half, picking out some excellent passes.
Pique: 6 - Occasionally beaten on the ground by Llorente and was fortunate that the Basques' finishing was below-par.
Chygrynskiy: 5 - Awful game as he was found wanting for pace and frequently out of position, no more so than when he tried to play Susaeta offside with disastrous consequences.
Abidal: 6.5 - Created the opening goal with a delightful cross for Jeffren to turn home, and gallopped up and down the left flank all evening.
Busquets: 7 - Played some marvellous balls from the middle of the pitch to pick out Jeffren or Messi as he dictated the tempo of the game.
Toure: 7 - Should have been sent off for a head-to-head with Javi Martinez following a foul by the Athletic midfielder on the Ivorian.
Maxwell: 7 - Played in a less familiar role in central midfield, but linked up well with Busquets and Toure to keep the Blaugrana's attacks flowing.
Messi: 8 - Belatedly found the net in fortuitous circumstances, but he had ben a threat throughout - one which Athletic never found the means to deal with.
Bojan: 8 - Stood in for the injured Ibrahimovic, and staked his claim for more regular football with an excellent brace, sweeping the first home effortlessly before unleashing a superb second.
Jeffren: 7 - Found the net with a simple tap-in to open the scoring but was forced off with an injury just before the hour mark.
Substitutes:
Xavi: 7 - Came on to shore up the midfield when Athletic began the second half promisingly, and was typically elegant and serene on the ball.
Pedro: 6.5 - Set up Messi's goal with an excellent low.
Dos Santos: N/A - Replaced Toure late on.
ATHLETIC BILBAO
Iraizoz: 5.5 - Should have done far better with the fourth goal, but he did make some good saves to keep the scoreline from becoming embarrassing.
Iraola: 5.5 - Like Koikili, he didn't get close enough to his man on the left and was unusually quiet in the offensive third.
San Jose: 2 - Unbelivably far out of his depth tonight. Had no idea what to do against Messi and was culpable for more than one of the goals.
Amorebieta: 5 - Alongside San Jose, he was trying to do the job of two defenders and couldn't cope with Barcelona's movement up front.
Koikili: 5 - Often not close enough to the various wingers Barcelona employed on the right hand side, which enabled them to create multiple opportunities from the right.
David Lopez: 5 - Had one opportunity to set up a goal on the counter-attack but his pass was awful and allowed the Barcelona defence to recover.
Javi Martinez: 5 - Should have scored in the 53rd minute, and his frustrations at a poor performance were on show after Athletic went 4-0 down.
Gurpegui: 5.5 - Lucky not to be sent off for a challenge with 10 minutes to go, but he did what he could to break up Barcelona's attacks around his own penalty area.
Gabilondo: 4.5 - Very little influence on the left hand side and struggled against Dani Alves. Taken off at half time.
Susaeta: 7 - The only Athletic player to really come out of the game with any credit. He scored the consolation and was always a danger when breaking forward.
Llorente: 4 - He had a couple of excellent chances to score for Athletic, both with his feet and his head, but couldn't hit the target and was replaced with 20 minutes to go.
Substitutes:
Toquero: 6 - Never gave up but had few chances of his own as the Basques based their attacking play around Llorente.
Yeste: 6.5 - Created the goal with an excellent pass to Susaeta, and his creativity opened up Barcelona on several occasions.
Iturraspe: 6 - Brought two greats save from Valdes late on.
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