La Liga 2017/18: Barcelona 2-0 Malaga, 5 talking points

#2. Malaga was wasteful in front of goal and that needs to stop

It would have been a very different night if Malaga were clinical in front of goal

For a team languishing at the rock bottom of the table, Malaga worried the league leaders a bit too much. Michel's men were entertaining to watch as they kept asking questions to the Barcelona's defence.

ter Stegen was brought into play way more often than Prieto was and this is evidence to the fact that Barcelona didn't even come close to steamrolling their opponents- something which almost everyone predicted would happen.

Malaga pressed high up the pitch and broke quickly on the counter and created several chances. But their finishing was off the mark as they missed the game's best chances- 2 crosses from either wing- the first one by Rolan which was missed by Chory and the second by Rosales which was skied by Rolan.

They have no room for profligacy in front of goal at the moment and will need to be clinical if they're to get anything out of a season that's been as cruel and unforgiving as any.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith