Barcelona mid-season ratings: Eric Garcia 9/10, Araujo gets 4.5 | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to enter into 2026 with the league position that Hansi Flick would have hoped for at the beginning of the season. Top of La Liga, 46 points from 18 games and a four-point cushion over Real Madrid make for good reading.

The numbers are loud: 51 goals scored already, but the feeling is even louder. This is a team that plays with incisive attacking power, sometimes, even at the cost of defensive solidity.Flick’s Barcelona aren’t perfect; not close; and yet, they are relentless.

Even the ‘messy’ nights become wins, like Villarreal away to close the year: a Raphinha penalty, Lamine Yamal’s punchline, and a reminder that survival is also a skill.

Europe, though, is where the mirror stops flattering. After six Champions League matches, Barcelona sit 15th on 10 points, inside the play-off places and outside the comfort of the top eight. The 3-0 loss at Chelsea is the sort of night that stains a mid-season report card.

And yet, the season still feels open-ended in the best way: a Copa del Rey job done at Guadalajara, a potential Champions League top-8 berth and La Liga toppers.

With all this in mind, here are the mid-season ratings of the Barcelona squad for the 2025-26 season.

GoalkeepersJoan Garcia – 8/10

Thrown into the noise of big league and Champions League nights and asked to be calm inside the storm, Joan Garcia looks like a signing built for modern Barcelona: feet willing and hands braced.

Joan Garcia has been a brilliant addition. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

The best example was the game against Villarreal, where he was tested repeatedly and he answered them in the language keepers use – through saves, not speeches.

The Spaniard has offered a sense of security between the posts that has been missing at the Catalan club for a long time and looks set to become one of the club’s best signings in recent history.

Wojciech Szczesny – 6/10

The veteran Pole’s season so far has been cooling his legs on the bench and helping Joan in training. He did get a decent run out when the latter was out with an injury for a couple of months.

His performances on the pitch were largely a mixed bag, but at an acceptable standard for a backup keeper. He hasn’t made goalkeeping feel like a subplot, which, for Barcelona, is often a compliment.

Defenders

Jules Kounde – 6/10

The Frenchman has the season’s most cinematic defensive moment: two headed goals in three minutes, dragging Barcelona back against Eintracht Frankfurt and keeping his team alive for top-eight contention in the Champions League.

Apart from the odd flash of brilliance, though, he has struggled to live up to the standards he set last season, and his defensive displays have left a lot to be desired. His rating would have been much lower if not for the Frankfurt game.

Pau Cubarsi – 7.5/10

Cubarsi, at 18, is the leader of the Barcelona backline and plays like the game is happening slightly slower for him than everyone else on the pitch.

The minutes stack up, but the mistakes very rarely do, and his presence quietly lowers Barcelona’s panic level in transitions. Apart from the odd blip here and there, which he is permitted to have at his age, the Spaniard is a rock at the back for Hansi Flick.

Eric Garcia – 9/10

Barcelona’s player of the season so far, and arguably the biggest surprise story of the campaign, Eric Garcia cannot be profiled into one position anymore. The question these days is more about where he starts a game rather than if he does.

The Spaniard has emerged as a problem-fixer for Flick on more than one occasion this season and his long-term renewal until 2031 is well deserved. If he can sustain his form through the course of the season, a World Cup berth might not be out of question.

Barcelona’s best player of the season so far. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Alejandro Balde – 6.5/10

Balde’s year so far feels like acceleration with guardrails: still explosive, still a threat, but found lacking in his end product. He seems to be playing within himself at times and hasn’t improved tremendously from the player that he was when he broke into the first team.

No longer figuring his feet out in the first team, it’s high time for the Spaniard to take the shackles off.

Ronald Araujo – 4.5/10

Arguably the most difficult one to dissect, at his best, Araujo is still an excellent physical presence for Barcelona in the backline. He showed signs of promise at times this season, but Europe has bitten, for the third successive season.

The red card at Chelsea has planted a lot of seeds of doubt, and the South American hasn’t played a single minute for the club since, prioritising his mental health. The second half of the campaign, provided he returns, could be make or break for Araujo in a Blaugrana jersey.

Andreas Christensen – 6/10

In typical Christensen fashion, his story is split into two: a useful rotation centre-back who almost never puts a foot wrong on the pitch. He even popped up with a Copa del Rey goal in what is his first start in ages, and then, his body betrays him again.

With his knee injury reported as potentially season-threatening, the ‘what if’ continues to hang over his Barcelona career. He may have already played his last game for the Catalan club, with his contract running out at the end of the season.

Gerard Martin – 7.5/10

Not much of a headline player in the first quarter of the campaign, providing valuable backup to Balde. His stocks have been on a rise since November, though, with Flick shifting him over to central defence.

The Spaniard has formed an excellent partnership with Pau Cubarsi and looks at home in his new role. One of the very underrated pieces of Flick’s puzzle.

Midfielders

Pedri – 9/10

With Pedri on the field, Barcelona’s football starts to feel like a memory: familiar angles and familiar calm. He has suffered the odd injury in between, but has been ever-present for Flick and makes the team look ten times better with him at the heart of it.

His stature has increased, and he looks like one of the best players in the world, not only in his position.

The best in the world. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Frenkie de Jong – 8/10

Apart from that one poor display against Chelsea, Frenkie de Jong remains the team’s metronome in human form. He is not always flashy but is constantly present in the build-up.

At times, he does provide the direct incision too, like the cross that became Christensen’s opener in the Copa del Rey. He looks much more at home alongside Pedri than any other midfield partner and continues to be an important cog in Hansi Flick’s wheel.

Marc Casado – 4/10

There is no hiding from the fact that this has been a very poor half-season for Marc Casado, and the coach’s faith in him seems to be waning.

His ball-winning hasn’t been at its cleanest, and he struggles to control games with the ease that he did last season, when Frenkie de Jong was injured. He has also been tried out at right-back, but the Spaniard will be keen to have a much better second half and regain Flick’s trust.

Marc Bernal – 6/10

Marc Bernal’s season so far has been a test in patience, often measured in cameos and not command. Hansi Flick has been very careful with his recovery from a long-term ACL injury, and it is only in recent weeks that the sharpness seems to be returning.

Expect him to have a much more prominent role in the second half of the campaign, fitness permitting.

Fermin Lopez – 8/10

Seven goals from midfield, by mid-season, sums up Fermin Lopez in the best way possible. Despite missing out with injuries at different periods, he has been at it whenever fit and even netted a hat-trick against Olympiacos in the Champions League.

The Spaniard gives Flick’s team a competitive advantage and plays like he arrives late to punish you: second-ball hunger, box timing and a shot that doesn’t ask for anyone’s permission.

Dani Olmo – 5/10

Dani Olmo’s role at Barcelona is to offer something they have often lacked between the lines: quick solutions in crowded places. He has seen a lot of minutes as an attacking midfielder and sometimes even deeper, but his performances have been mediocre at best.

Injuries, as always, have been a constant company for the midfielder as he struggles to find continuity in a system that is built for him to thrive.

Dro: 6.5/10

La Masia’s latest sensation goes by the name Dro Fernandez, and he has been used quite a lot by Flick so far. Getting senior minutes as a teenager in a title race is never trivial.

Flick’s been using the Spaniard as a spark, in small stretches, and his next step is to turn the presence into a consistent influence.

Forwards

Lamine Yamal – 8/10

Barcelona’s key weapon. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Nine goals already and he continues to silence critics. Despite suffering from a persistent pubalgia injury that isn’t allowing him to move at his free-flowing best, the teenager continues to be a threat that seemingly cannot be stopped.

The Villarreal game is the perfect snapshot: fouled hard early in the game and popped up with a goal later, anyway. He’s not just a starlet anymore; he is the superstar.

Ferran Torres – 8.5/10

13 goals by mid-season is proper striker output, full stop. Ferran’s campaign so far has been about sharpness, arriving early in the box, finishing quickly and turning good performances into points on the table.

He has had the odd blip here and there, like the horrendous miss against Chelsea, but his numbers look very impressive. Dare we say, he has leapfrogged Robert Lewandowski in the striker pecking order.

Raphinha – 8/10

Raphinha has been frustrated by injuries in the first half of the season, but whenever fit, he has become the grown-up edge in the front line: work rate, decisions and goals that matter.

For example, the Villarreal penalty is simple, yes, but the foul comes from his own aggression and the conversion comes with the weight of a title race. Much like Pedri, the team looks way better with the Brazilian in it.

Marcus Rashford – 7.5/10

A season-long loan can feel temporary, but Rashford has made it feel essential. He’s had big moments already, like his second-half performance against Newcastle United, and he carries that useful chaos: defenders don’t know whether to hold the line or run.

He still has some scope for improvement, especially in the defensive aspect, but it has been a very successful loan so far.

Robert Lewandowski – 6.5/10

A return of eight goals is still very respectable, but the season’s narrative around Lewandowski feels different. He is less the Sun these days but more one of the planets.

He remains a reference point, as evidenced by his hat-trick against Celta Vigo, but Barcelona’s attacking identity now breathes through wider lungs.

Roony Bardghji – 6/10

The raw talent is obvious, the adaptation is real, and the numbers are modest: the classic first Barcelona season for a young winger learning how quickly spaces disappear in La Liga.

There is something to be worked with, though, and that should please the club, especially considering the price point he came in at.

Manager – Hansi Flick – 8/10

Taking Barcelona forward despite multiple hurdles. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Hansi Flick may have had some rough edges to iron out in the early part of the season, as he struggled to identify his ideal defensive combination following Inigo Martinez’s departure.

Teams had also started figuring out a way to break apart the Barcelona high-line, and the results were far from favourable.

However, the manager has managed to turn it around to an extent in the past couple of months and sees his side hold a comfortable 4-point lead in La Liga.

There is still room for improvement, especially in terms of building out from the back against a man-to-man pressing side, and Flick will know that he can do even better in the second half of the campaign.