Barcelona rotated ahead of their Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich in midweek which allowed for Frenkie de Jong to get minutes for the Catalan side. The Dutchman was playing alongside Gavi and Sergio Busquets in midfield as he filled in for Spanish starlet Pedri.
It was an incredibly quiet first half for Barcelona with the scores staying at 0-0, however, in the second half, Xavi's side and De Jong got to work. The Dutchman netted in the 55th minute to open the scoring and his performance earned him the Man of the Match award despite Robert Lewandowski scoring one and assisting another two.
The performance and also the context around it showed why Manchester United should still be in for the midfielder. Against Real Sociedad, Erik ten Hag's side were unable to reliably progress the ball from deeper areas, De Jong wasn't doing that for Barcelona but he was a consistent asset in possession.
