A spectacular crowd in the stands this evening, and on the pitch just one change to José González’s starting-11 in regard to the last match, with the entrance of Samuel in place of Alberto Bueno. From the outset, Barça displayed their usual touch-heavy play based on ball possession, against a tight, closed-in Málaga in defence. In 13’ the visitors generated their first opportunity, with a Suárez left-footer that was cleared by Roberto.
Fifteen minutes into the match came the second chance for the Uruguayan striker, who proved most unforgiving. A Jordi Alba cross from the left led to a header into goal for Suárez (0-1, 15’). En-Nesyri, in 18’, tried his luck with a long shot, the first chance of the game for the Blue and Whites. Paulinho, finishing a good combinative display by the visitors, came close to a second goal in minute 21.
Midway through the first half came the second goal for Barça, beginning with a Dembélé assist to Coutinho, converted by the Brazilian (0-2, 27’). Immediately afterwards, a harsh foul by Samuel on Alba led to the Malaguista winger being shown the red card. In 32’, Rakitic launched a dangerous shot from in front of the area, and in 36’, En-Nesyri re-appeared to follow up on a great assist from Iturra that he sent to Ter Stegen’s right post.
Lacen, in 39’, narrowly missed out on a goal following assistance from En-Nesyri. In minute 42, Roberto stopped Coutinho in his tracks with a superb save. At half-time, Valverde’s men were 0-2 up.
In the second half, Barça dominated the pace of play, even more so with their numerical advantage. They came close to increasing their lead further with a toxic shot from Dembélé in 48’. A solitary Umtiti nodded a header into Roberto’s hands in 55’. González made his first substitution in 61’, bringing on Lestienne in place of Chory.
Again, Dembélé tested Roberto’s reflexes in 65’. Rolan, with an impressive slalom, was unlucky in minute 68. Coutinho, in 70’, forced Roberto to securely save a long shot towards the target. Lestienne, 15 minutes before the end, could have narrowed the gap, but didn’t manage to convert. In the 78th minute of play, there was a double substitution for the Blue and Whites, with Success and Ideye coming on in place of Rolan and En-Nesyri.
Barcelona kept the ball in the final minutes, against a Málaga who continued the fight, but claimed no reward. The final result was 0-2 to the visitors, leaving MCF in last place in the standings, 11 points away from safety, with 10 games remaining until the end of LaLiga.
