Champions League: Slavia Praha vs FC Barcelona player ratings

It was a game of numbers for FC Barcelona. But then again, Barcelona's players are no strangers to records. It turned out to be a cold night in Prague for the hosts, as Lionel Messi guided Barcelona to a win over Slavia Praha. A 2-1 win on Wednesday night means that Barcelona are now top of their group in the Champions League. The win bodes well for Ernesto Valverde, as Group F was termed as the 'group of death' early on. With Antonio Conte's reinvigorated Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund in the group, it's easy to see why.

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Lionel Messi had never played against Sparta Praha before. But the Argentinian took little time to introduce himself to the hosts, as he slotted in a pass from Arthur to put Barcelona up on three minutes. Messi started the move by winning the ball back from Petr Sevcik in midfield, before going on to swap passes with Arthur, who then squared the ball for Lionel Messi, who, in turn, duly obliged. This was Messi's 113th goal in the Champions League. The goal also meant that Lionel Messi became the first player in the history of the Champions League to score in 15 consecutive Champions League campaigns. He also joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul in netting against 33 different opponents in the Champions League. Not bad for a day's work. 

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Sparta Praha, however, were not willing to lie down and let the star-studded Barcelona team walk all over them. Jaroslav Zeleny, Lukas Masopust and Olayinka all forced saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen in a span of ten minutes. Luis Suarez, who is enduring a sort of a goal drought for the Blaugrana in the Champions League was also guilty of missing two chances in the first half. The Uruguayan has failed to score in over 30 hours of away football in the Champions League for Barcelona. 5 minutes into the second half, Slavia Praha equalised through Jan Boril's effort, as the fullback fired a strike past ter Stegen. However, it was all square for just eight minutes. Luis Suarez finally seemed to have put his drought to an end when he appeared to net Barcelona's second of the night. The goal, however, was chalked down to an Olayinka own goal. Here are the player ratings from the game. 

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Slavia Praha

Ondrej Kolar - 7/10

Jan Boril - 7.5/10

David Hovorka - 6.5/10

Ondrej Kudela - 6.5/10

Vladimir Coufal - 6.5/10

Petr Sevcik - 6.5/10

Tomas Soucek - 6/10

Jaroslav Zeleny - 6/10

Nicolae Stanciu - 6/10

Lukas Masopust - 7/10

Peter Olayinka - 5.5/10

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Barcelona

Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 7.5/10

Nelsen Semedo - 7/10

Gerard Pique - 7/10

Clement Lenglet - 7/10

Jordi Alba - 7/10

Frenkie de Jong - 7/10

Sergio Busquets - 7.5/10

Arthur - 7.5/10

Lionel Messi - 8.5/10

Luis Suarez - 7.5/10

Antoine Griezmann - 6.5/10