Barcelona 1-0 Malaga: Five Talking Points

Thomas Vermaelen proved to be Barcelona’s hero on a night where the Catalan club were given very few opportunities to score. The Belgian defender scored the winner in the 73rd minute to hand Barcelona a 1-0 win to make it two wins in two games for the defending champions. Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 Thomas Vermaelen is back for Barcelona

Thomas Vermaelen (C) scored the solitary goal for Barcelona

Ever since signing for in the last summer transfer window from Arsenal, Vermaelen had never started a game for the Catalans. He was sidelined throughout the 2014/15 season with injuries and only managed to play five minutes in the penultimate game of the season for Barca last term. The Belgian defender has the distinction of having won a treble without playing a single game.

But with the new season in his sights, the former Arsenal captain has finally put the horrors of last season behind him and has started two games in a row for Barca, impressing on both occasions. With Gerard Pique suspended for the two games, Vermaelen made a statement to his manager Luis Enrique that he is not yet finished and has it in him to be a regular name on the teamsheet.

Vermaelen looked solid at the back for Barca as he was in control of the central defence along with Javier Mascherano. Vermaelen was also excellent going forward as he made through balls for Lionel Messi and Neymar on a couple of occasions, showing that he can assist in attacks as well.

But his best contribution of the game was when Kameni’s parry from a Suarez cross fell kindly for the former Arsenal defender, who rifled a half-volley into the back of the net. Luis Enrique and Barca fans will be hoping for more of the same from their recruit who cost £15m.

#2 Barcelona lacking goals this season

Barcelona are yet to get into their stride this season in the goals department

Barcelona have so far scored two goals in their opening two La Liga games with two 1-0 wins. A side that was scoring at will and routing sides last season have been unable to score in the same manner this season.

Luis Suarez did find the net on the night, but his goal was disallowed as the referee saw a push by the Uruguayan on the defender. Messi and Neymar were also unable to find good scoring opportunities. When Messi did find himself in the box, he had a tame shot which was saved by Kameni.

The home side missed the attacking flair Dani Alves provides them with, as Sergio Roberto replaced him due to a groin strain to the Brazillian in last week’s outing at Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona have so far lacked the goals and Luis Enrique will be mindful of the fact that they have some important fixtures in La Liga and the Champions League which starts a little after the international break.

The home team only managed one goal from their 13 shots on target. Barcelona created several chances with a total of 22 shots out of which only one was worthy of a goal. The Catalans lack the neat finishes at the end of those chances to round of their beautiful passing play. Luis Enrique will hope this will change in the coming games.

#3 Malaga have potential to reach Top 4

Can Malaga qualify for the Champions League again?

Malaga managed to keep the home side quiet for the first 73 minutes of the game and eventually faltered to a shot from Thomas Vermaelen from inside the box. They did have chances of their own, most notably Juanka’s optimistic long-range lob from his own half when Claudio Bravo was off his line.

Fortune was shining on the visitors on the night as Carlos Kameni pulled off a string of superb saves to keep hopes of gaining at least a point alive. But that luck ran dry when Vermaelen popped up 17 minutes from time to seal Barca’s second 1-0 win in as many matches.

With Malaga having offered little in the way of attacking threat for the most part, Barca’s lead appeared safe, but Malaga could have snatched a late draw had Charles managed to sort his feet out in the box deep into stoppage time. The Brazilian was unable to apply the finish to Cop’s inviting cross.

The visiting team neutralized most of Barca’s attacks with the new Best Player in Europe Lionel Messi and Neymar combining for most of the chances. With such a performance, Malaga have shown they have it in them to fight for a top four spot in La Liga.

They have the defence and a right mixture of youth and experience at their disposal. When it comes to attacking players, Malaga have signed Nordin Amrabat and he has shown he can deliver for the visiting side. A tight defence and a delivering forward line can mean Malaga can finish in the top four as they have the players and the depth they require.

#4 Neymar\'s return fails to spark Barcelona

Neymar is still not at 100%

Barcelona won their first game at home in La Liga this season with the return of Neymar to the starting eleven. The Brazilian forward had missed the start of the Catalans' season with a bout of mumps. Neymar was the first of the Barca players to have a go at the goal and attack, his first chance of the game coming inside 30 minutes as he attempted a shot hit straight at Malaga’s goalkeeper Kameni.

As the game progressed, Neymar made some attacking runs and exchanged passes with Messi and co, but that wasn’t enough on the night. Barcelona looked unconvincing and indecisive on a night where 80,000 fans watched on at the Camp Nou.

Neymar did not look fully ready for the game as he was lacking the intensity that saw him finish top scorer in the Champions League last season. With reports of Manchester United having made bids for him, Neymar would be expecting to make a point to his Barca fans that he is not leaving.

Barcelona have so far lacked the goals in the first two games of La Liga but the return of Neymar will boost their confidence and vigour for goals. He himself had most recently said that this would be a big season for him. Sergio Busquets also returned from injury after he was substituted in last week’s game against Athletic as a precaution.

#5 Patience was the key to Barcelona\'s win

Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic (L) did not have the best of games

Patience was the key for Barcelona on a night where they managed to convert only one shot out of the 22 attempted shots. Barcelona looked their best with the fluent passing and over three-quarters of the possession throughout the game but unable to make use of it in the final third.

Messi, Suarez and Neymar (aka MSN) failed to convert any of the chances they had. Even though early on within the first five minutes, Suarez headed the ball past Kameni in the back of the net, the referee blew his whistle only to penalise Suarez for a push on the back of Marcos Angeleri.

In a game where their midfield maestro Ivan Rakitic went completely missing, Barcelona had to be patient with the visitors defending well in numbers. Throughout the game, Barca looked dangerous with Messi and Neymar making attacking runs. But with Dani Alves missing, there were no good crosses for Suarez to turn into the back of the net.

Luis Enrique’s half-time team talk would have been to keep the momentum going into the second half as the goal will eventually come and it did come in the 73rd minute.