Defending champions Barcelona travelled to face a tricky fixture at Malaga on the back of a mid-week win over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey. A few injuries and suspensions meant that Luis Enrique took a threadbare squad to face a team that had not lost a home La Liga match since November 7.
Lionel Messi, however, returned to a Blaugrana squad bereft of Jordi Alba, Pique and Neymar. Malaga, with the joint-best home defensive record in the league, came into the match in a good vein of form and fancied to take at least a point off Barca.
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Munir el-Haddadi, the surprise top scorer in the King’s Cup, notched an early goal and things were looking bleak for the Andalusians, who had won only once against Barcelona in their previous twenty outings. But a glaring error in the Barcelona back line gifted Malaga the equalizer, and the balance of play moved in their favour to an extent.
It was beginning to appear that Barcelona may drop points in this match, but a moment of brilliance from Leo Messi won the game, and Malaga would be dejected to have walked away from this game empty-handed.
Malaga
Carlos Kameni – 6/10
Cameroonian international Kameni pulled off a few good saves over the course of the match. He had little to do in the opening exchanges, and pulled off some excellent saves in the second half, but the game was already lost by then.
Miguel Torres – 6/10
The former Real Madrid man’s game was a mixed bag – he was beaten for pace a couple of times by Messi, but his tackle in the 42nd minute meant Malaga stayed in the game longer.
Weligton - 6.5/10
The veteran brought all of his experience and luck to the game as he gave a good account of himself with some solid tackles, and a few questionable ones as well, including a studs-up challenge on Suarez.
Marcos Angeleri - 5.5/10
The veteran Argentinean had a lackluster game.
Roberto Rosales - 6.5/10
His defensive mistake allowed the cross which resulted in the match slipping away from Malaga. Combined well in attack, and had a decent effort on goal.
Recio – 6/10
The Spaniard operated in the centre of midfield, and displayed some aggressive pressing in the first half, and caused some problems for the Barcelona defence with his crosses and link-up play with Rosales and Juanpi.
Ignacio Camacho – 6.5/10
Malaga’s midfield enforcer had a very good game, breaking up a number of dangerous attacks. Had an excellent shot on goal, and also got Leo Messi’s name in the referee’s book, as the five-time Balon D’Or winner committed a rash tackle on him.
Juanpi Anor – 7/10
The young Venezuelan attacker did well to get his first La Liga goal, as he slotted past Bravo. He gave a good account of himself in attack through the game.
Charles – 6.5/10
The Malaga Number 9 had a decent game as he linked up with his attacking partners. The Brazilian, who netted the winner when Atletico Madrid visited Malaga, laid on the assist for Juanpi.
Duje Cop – 5.5/10
The Croat striker, on loan from Cagliari, had one notable header saved by Bravo, but otherwise put in an anonymous performance against the visitors.
Chory Castro – 6.5/10
The Uruguayan had a very good game, constantly a thorn in the Barcelona defense, and had a shot pushed onto the post by the Claudio Bravo.
Substitutes
Duda – N/A
The substitute was brought on late in place of Weligton and didn’t have any notable impact on the game.
Pablo – 5.5/10
He went straight into the referee’s book for a foul on Andres Iniesta.
Santa Cruz – N/A
The veteran Paraguayan and former Manchester City striker was brought on with ten minutes to go and didn’t have much of an impact.
Barcelona
Bravo – 7.5/10
The Barcelona custodian had a fantastic game, saving a number of shots.
Thomas Vermaelen – 5/10
The former Arsenal man was handed a rare start as Pique missed the game through suspension, but put in a horrible performance. He was run ragged by an inspired Malaga frontline and was ingloriously hauled off at half-time.
Adriano – 7/10
Barcelona utility man Adriano started the game as Jordi Alba failed to make the match-day squad due to an injury. He put in a mediocre performance, which was only resurrected due to his assist for Messi’s winner.
Mascherano – 6.5/10
Convicted of tax fraud midweek, Mascherano narrowly avoided a jail sentence by paying a sizeable fine. However, his comical error helped Malaga get out of jail in the first half, and Vermaelen’s shoddy performance didn’t help him very much.
Aleix Vidal – 6.5/10
Having suffered a concussion midweek, Vidal recovered in time to make it to the starting eleven as Dani Alves watched on from the bench. Much like his comrades in defence, had a poor first half but followed it up with a better showing in the second.
Sergio Busquets – 6.5/10
Barcelona’s legendary midfield enforcer had a forgettable first half, which included his horrible mix-up with Mascherano leading to Malaga’s goal. However, he put in a solid show in the second half.
Andres Iniesta – 7/10
The Barcelona man started ahead of Ivan Rakitic and wasn’t completely on song against Malaga. Displayed moments of silky quality, but much like Messi and Turan, Iniesta didn’t pay the price for not operating at 100%.
Arda Turan – 7/10
Arda Turan is slowly growing into life at Barcelona, having been barred from playing for the first six months of his Barcelona career thanks to a transfer embargo. The Turkish international had a decent game.
Luis Suarez – 8/10 ‘El Pistolero’ is the most prolific striker in Europe at the moment, and laid on the assist for Munir’s opener in the second minute of play. Suarez had numerous chances to put his own name on the scoresheet and had a good game.
Lionel Messi – 7.5/10
Lionel Messi had an uncharacteristic game but scored the winner as Barcelona grabbed all three points – putting in a champion’s performance by grabbing all three points despite not being at full tilt.
Munir – 7/10
The youngster is benefitting from MSN’s injury and suspension problems and is already the top scorer in the Kings’ Cup. He grabbed another goal, meaning the shocking miss in the 4-0 win against Madrid is long-forgotten.
Substitutes
Mathieu – 6.5/10
Put in a much better performance than the man he replaced, and is surely not the worst defender in Barcelona anymore.
Ivan Rakitic – 6/10
Ivan Rakitic had a decent game for the time he was on the pitch.
Sergi Roberto – N/A
The young and versatile player has a bright future ahead, but he was brought on late in the game.
