Rakitic

Rakitic curls the ball to the back post and where Roberto tries to head it in. He needs to stand on a chair to get to that but Rakitic puts a weighted pass in a second time and this is centimetres away from Roberto's outstretched foot.

Among the footballers to appear during the festival were Barcelona duo and Ivan Rakitic, Real Madrid pair and Lucas Vazquez, Atletico Madrid midfielders Koke and Saul Niguez and former Arsenal favourite Santi Cazorla, who is now back at Villarreal.

As expected, Arturo Vidal came back in for Ivan Rakitic to partner Frenkie de Jong, and a suspension to Gerard Pique spelled an all-French centre back pairing of Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti.

Barcelona have already started a clear-out of their squad allowing Ivan Rakitic to leave for a nominal fee and with Arturo Vidal and Luis Suarez expected to follow as they attempt to reduce a crippling wage bill.

Fati and Rakitic for Arthur and Griezmann, time was ticking for the Catalans.

In a chat with reporters after he left the club, Rakitic stated that the best option for any player is always Barcelona, but admitted that it might not be the case for everyone.

Rakitic’s corner is headed down by Pique and claimed by Masip.

A case in point was Barca’s failed attempts to sell Ivan Rakitic, who just didn’t want to move away from that deal and that life.

Back: Ivan Rakitic has forced his way back into the Barcelona starting XI.

Barca had hoped to sell Ivan Rakitic, but the Croatian wanted to stay and was unwilling to be used as a makeweight in the Neymar deal.

But other than a Rakitic effort from 12 yards out midway through the half chances were few and far between.

Casemiro and Rakitic occupy similar spaces on the pitch, but while the former will trying to protect Madrid’s backline, the latter will look to unpick it.

Croatia international Rakitic has spent five seasons at Barca following a move from Sevilla in 2014 and has been a key part of the side ever since, making at least 32 La Liga appearances in each campaign.

Forward Ousmane Dembele returns to the squad to face Villarreal after a hamstring injury, while midfielder Ivan Rakitic has been left out.

In midfield, Ivan Rakitic is probably paying the price after his exertions in the World Cup last summer.

In midfield, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic are nailed on, while Arthur is likely to be preferred to Arturo Vidal, due to his ability to manage the tempo of matches.

Ivan Rakitic, a trainer at Skamma, said his students had gotten a lot out of Mr de Been’s lessons.

Ivan Rakitic replaced Carles Alena shortly after half-time and Barca began to regain control.

Perhaps Barça, beaten by Athletic Bilbao in their opening La Liga game, can finance the deal with all that money they received for the transfers of Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and Ousmane Dembélé.

Rakitic, an Other Alternative for Inter.