Mixed fortunes for debutants Mathieu and Rakitic
Posted Monday, August 04, 2014 by Marca.com
The defender started but looked a bit off the pace, while the Croat slotted in seamlessly
Barça new boys Jeremy Mathieu and Ivan Rakitić both made their debuts in the visit to Nice, a place they will now remember fondly. Mathieu started, while Rakitić was introduced at the break.
It wasn't exactly a baptism of fire for Mathieu at the Allianz Arena, but it wasn't plain sailing on the Riviera either. Lining up from the start alongside Gerard Piqué, the Frenchman looked a little rusty and was left for dead a couple of times, eventually being taken off after an hour. Obviously he is still acclimatising to his new surroundings.
Rakitić has had longer to get to know his new teammates but had to wait longer to get his bow, coming on for the second half. It was a promising first run-out for the Croat, who looked right at home alongside Xavi, spraying the ball around and nearly opening his goalscoring account with two right-footed efforts in the last few minutes.
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