Malaga were able to hold off Barcelona for a precious draw at home on Wednesday. The Andalusian side kept the Blaugrana out all night and earned a well-earned 0-0 draw.
Malaga vs. Barcelona: Final score 0-0, Blaugrana drop points away
The Andalusian team did not even need a brilliant performance by goalkeeper Carlos Kameni to earn a valuable home draw against Messi and Co.
Manuel Queimadelos Alonso
Nordin Amrabat was Málaga's marquee signing this summer. The Moroccan attacker signed a one-year loan deal with Málaga to escape from Galatasaray, and even though he couldn't score in Wednesday's big match against Barcelona, his pace and work ethic stopped FC Barcelona from getting a win at La Rosaleda.
Luis Enrique decided to line up Messi, Pedro and Neymar upfront, with Busquets, Rakitic and Iniesta in the midfield. Out of those six players, only Andrés Iniesta completed a decent game and caused Málaga some trouble, because los boquerones’ defensive system kept Barcelona without a single shot on target. The first half was the first proof that Málaga were not going to give up the points very easily. Messi’s role as a false striker left Barcelona toothless, even though Neymar tried to shake Málaga’s tight defense up with some dribbles on the left wing. Pedro’s performance was really poor, and he will most likely return to the bench as soon as Luis Suárez’s ban expires.
Málaga were really comfortable sitting back and waiting for some counterattacking chances to happen. It should be noted that Málaga's pitch was in terrible conditions, something that definitely affects Barcelona's play. However, the pitch doesn't explain how calmly Messi and his teammates reacted to Málaga's gameplan. Even though the two center-backs were dominating in the aerial game, Luis Enrique's pupils tried so many crosses throughout the whole match just because the only space could be found by both full backs --Alba and Douglas--. Speaking of full backs, Brazilian signing Douglas made his debut as a Barcelona player and proved why no other club in European football tried to sign him away from Sao Paulo. He will have a secondary role behind Alves and probably Adriano this season, but still, Douglas' performance showed no signs of optimism for Luis Enrique and his coaching staff.
The second half was interesting, as Málaga finally saw that they had a good chance to win the game. Barça goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had to save a couple of good tries by the Andalusian side in order to keep his team alive, and it was all due to Amrabat's insistence. The Turkish single-handedly harmed Barcelona's defensive line, because neither Piqué nor Bartra are known for his speed. Still, when Málaga saw that a good point was at sight, they decided to sit even deeper and settle for that 0-0 draw.
There was still time for some controversy, as Málaga defender Weligton tried to choke Messi in the last five minutes of the game. Weligton saw the yellow card and he would have been sent off had he got booked after a very rough tackle on Pedro during the first half. Still, it’s fairly remote that this sending off would have changed the final result as there were only a couple of minutes remaining.
One way or another, Luis Enrique's Barcelona have finally been stopped in La Liga after a good start with four consecutive wins. They now share the lead on La Liga's table with Sevilla, while Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid are still two and four points away respectively.
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