Player ratings for the Champions League clash between Barcelona and Stuttgart.

By Eugene YS Han

Barcelona

Victor Valdes: 5

Had almost nothing to do but had a couple of nervy moments when Stuttgart crossed the ball and made a few questionable distributions to put his defence into unnecessary pressure.

Dani Alves: 8

Was like a non-stop dynamo on the right and was constantly testing Stuttgart leftback Molinaro and his fellow defenders. Often drifted in-field to link-up with Messi and one of those moves led to Barca's third goal.

Gerard Pique: 7

Growing in stature with every game and earning his chops alongside Puyol. Had an easier time against Cacau at the Nou Camp in the second-leg as opposed to the first leg.

Carlos Puyol: 8

Marshaled his defence superbly and never looked like losing a 50-50 ball.

Maxwell: 6

Showed some great touches on the flanks and gave Barca much needed width against an amassed Stuttgart defence.

Yaya Toure: 7

Timed his run into the box perfectly to lay off for Pedro to score Barca's second which effectively killed off the tie. For most of the game, Toure cut off Stuttgart's supply lines in midfield.

Sergi Busquets (66th): 6

Filled Xavi's boots admirably but was a shade or two off-colour.

Andres Iniesta (off 89th): 7

Without his partner in crime, Xavi, Iniesta had more of a license to roam forward and he could have had a goal or two in this game.

Lionel Messi: 9

Exceptional and extraordinary. One of the few reasons why Barcelona are in such commanding form. After his brace, Messi has now scored 20 goals in European competitions.

Thierry Henry (off 79th): 5

Not the best of performance on his 110th Champions League appearance. Henry was like the Henry of old: Holding his hands up when he thought he was fouled or when a decision has gone against him. He also looks miles off the pace and is holding Barca's attack up.

Pedro: 7

Held his own well on the right flank and showed his predatory instincts when he stole in for Barca's second.

Substitutes

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (on 66th): 6

Showed a number of nice touches and it was his killer ball late in the second half that gave Bojan the chance to score Barca's fourth.

Gabriel Milito (on 79th): 6

Was hardly troubled as Stuttgart lost their initiative to attack.

Bojan (on 89th): 7

Made an immediate impact when he latched onto Zlatan's through-ball to put the icing on Barca's cake.

Stuttgart

Jens Lehmann: 6

The oldest player in the Champions League at 40 and did his best to keep Barca at bay. Denied Messi a hat-trick in the 69th minute with a wonderful reflex save.

Stefano Celozzi (off 46th min): 4

Culpable for Barcelona's second goal when the right-back allowed Toure to romp through unmarked on the Stuttgart right. Some of Barca's best moves came from his flank. Taken off at half-time to spare him further humilation.

Georg Niedermeier: 5

Did not impress all game and looked overawed by the occasion.

Matthieu Delpierre: 5

The Stuttgart captain failed to marshal his defence effectively against Barca's attacks. Redeemed himself somewhat with a timely interception to prevent a certain goal from Henry in the second-half.

Cristian Molinaro: 5

Had an interesting battle against Alves but was unable to join up in attack with Helb as he did in the first leg.

Christian Trasch: 5

Used as a defensive winger in the first-half, and reverted to right-back in the second half to help contain Messi - unsuccessfully of course.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic: 5

Struggled to track Barca's movements in midfield. Gave Messi too much space for Barca's opener.

Sami Khedira: 5

The hatchet man in midfield did his job in hacking down Messi from behind and anybody else in a blue and red jersey.

Alexander Hleb: 6

Tried his best to show what Barca he was capable of but he disappointed somewhat. Could be because he always drew two or more opposing players whenever he had the ball.

Pavel Pogrebnyak (off 70th): 5

The 26-year-old Russian tried to batter his way through the Barca defence and met his match in Carles Puyol. Was not as influential as he was in the first leg.

Cacau: 5

Had a couple of promising moments in the opening exchanges but faded as the game wore on.

Substitutes

Timo Gebhart (on 46th): 6

The right winger looked lively when he came on and gave Stuttgart more impetus in attack.

Ciprian Marica (on 70th): 5

Totally left out of the game as the game slowed down once Stuttgart were three goals down.