Work, talent, and a great subs bench (0-2)

Work, talent, and a great subs bench (0-2)

Five games, five wins. FC Barcelona worked hard for the win at La Rosaleda, against a very physical side. The goals came from two players that came off the bench to score, Ibrahimovic and Piqué.
Malaga welcomed

Barça onto a pitch in appalling condition, and the game was intense from the start, with the home side intent on challenging Barça toughly every time the visitors got the ball. With rain adding to the drama, Guardiola’s side took a practical approach, and without producing the spectacular football we have grown so used to, collected the three points in a workmanlike fashion. But there were moment of brilliance, and those were enough to break down a resilient Malaga who from the first 15 minute onwards, were more content to defend than anything else. Messi and Ibrahimovic produced a work of art to make it 1-0, and it was Xavi and Piqué that combined for the second. Barça’s goals both came from players that came on as subs, coming on for injured players, Henry and Chygrynskiy. And Barça can now boast 15 points out of a possible 15. Who could ask for more? Intense stuff Malaga were very unlike the Racing side Barça met midweek. The Andalusians created far more pressure, and prevented Guardiola’s side from producing their usual passing game from the back. Thy also played extremely physical football, and Barça had claims both for a stamp on Messi and two possible penalties on Pedro and Ibrahimovic. Ibra on target again

The Swede started on the bench, but came on after 28 minutes when Henry came off with an adductor problem in his left leg. And Zlatan did not disappoint. Sixty seconds after almost breaking the deadlock, he got onto the end of a blinding assist from Messi. It was the fourth consecutive game in which the Swede has opened the scoring, and he is certainly creating a spectacular understanding with the Argentinian.

A thousand battles

After the break, the game was more physical than ever. Malaga were tackling hard and things often threatened to turn ugly, but Barça didn’t let it get to them and maintained an impeccable attitude. And just when the game needed some footballing brilliance, Piqué, who had come on for the also injured Chygrynskiy, struck home a terrific 58th minute header. The inch-perfect free kick from Xavi was as amazing as his performance today. Simply outstanding.

Luque off and chances for Messi

The last half hour was a Barça monologue. They now found it easy to produce combination football in midfield, and Malaga defended as best as they could – which rather too often simply meant dealing out fouls. Luque saw red for a particularly unpleasant challenge, while Messi reminded everybody how football should be played, with some scandalously brilliant play in the dying minutes, but he let himself down with some uncharacteristically poor finishing. He and Weligton were locked in a duel from the first minute, but the Argentinian was the clear winner of that individual contest. So, with three more points in the bag, Barça can return from La Rosaleda with smiles on their faces, after showing they can do well whatever the state of the pitch. They learned that in Milan, and now they know it in Malaga too.