Former Everton and Chelsea playmaker Ross Barkley will not look back fondly on his first start for Nice - which saw him earn a humbling 3/10 rating in the French press.
The Englishman, still only 28, signed for the Ligue 1 club this summer after his release at Stamford Bridge, joining a host of former Premier League players at Allianz Riviera. He made two substitute appearances in September before manager Lucien Favre thrust into the starting XI which took on defending champions Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.
Barkley played just over an hour before he was hooked at the Parc des Princes, with the scores level at 1-1 after Gaetan Laborde cancelled out a stunning free kick from in-form Lionel Messi. The visitors defended resolutely in the second half but their resistance was broken as Kylian Mbappe swept in with seven minutes remaining following a poor pass from former Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Much of the blame for Nice's defeat has been pinned on Barkley, with L'Equipe branding him the 'flop' of the match and handing him a brutal rating of just three out of 10 - the lowest of any player involved. The French newspaper wrote: "Starting for the first time, the Englishman never managed to be useful and his most remarkable moment was the loss of the ball which allowed Messi to force Dante into a foul that brought the first goal. Replaced by [Nicolas] Pepe, without influence."
L'Equipe are notorious for their harsh ratings and only two players who started the game were awarded an above-average score of seven: Messi and Nice midfielder Mario Lemina. Schmeichel will also be disappointed with his review, as he was handed a rating of just 4/10.
However, Favre insisted his side deserved more from the match and claimed it was "cruel" that they fell behind with so little time left in the capital. The Swiss said: "It's disappointing because we played a good match.
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"We could have got the draw and then we concede that goal with 7 minutes to go. It's cruel, especially as we didn't leave Paris that many chances to score."
Discussing his side's performance, Favre added: "I think it was pretty good. We have already played in this system. The problem is that some players can play in this system but less so in another."
Barkley's 'flop' rating comes after a challenging few seasons for the former Three Lions prospect. He fell down the pecking order midway through his four-and-a-half years with Chelsea and failed to revive his career during a loan spell with Aston Villa before Blues chiefs decided not to extend his contract.
