Malaga vs. Barcelona: Score, Grades and Post-Match Reaction

Malaga ended Barcelona's 100 percent start to the La Liga season as the teams played out a scoreless draw Wednesday night at Malaga's Estadio La Rosaleda.

Barcelona had entered the match with four wins from their first four league matches but left having dropped their first points of the season. But Luis Enrique's side remain atop the table with 13 points, ahead of Sevilla on goal difference, and have still yet to concede a goal in the league this season. 

Up against Malaga's determined defending, Barcelona were frustrated throughout the match despite dominating possession. The hosts, in fact, had the first good chance, Nordin Amrabat turning and shooting at Claudio Bravo in the eighth minute.

The visitors responded in the 15th minute as Lionel Messi curled a free-kick off target. Eleven minutes later, the Argentine tried to use his chest to redirect a Jordi Alba cross into the net, but his improvised shot bounced off target.

Two minutes before half-time, Barcelona created their best chance with a flowing passage of play. Messi started—and then nearly finished—the move, passing to Pedro, who picked out Alba on an overlap down the left. Alba drove his cross invitingly into the middle, but Messi was unable to reach the ball to turn it in.

As the second half dawned, the game returned to a familiar pattern, with Barcelona dominating possession but struggling to break down Malaga. The hosts, meanwhile, remained dangerous on the break, with Amrabat proving a handful for Barca's defence.

The visitors created a clear chance in the 61st minute as Ivan Rakitic curled in a corner and Marc Bartra sent a bullet header just wide of the post.

Malaga responded with a spell of pressure, nearly taking the lead on a couple of occasions. In the 68th minute, Samu Castillejo pulled back a pass from deep on the left, picking out Roberto Rosales' late run. The right-back hit his shot with plenty of power, but the piledriver flew wide of the far post.

Luis Alberto came even closer in the 71st minute with a free-kick. Taking aim from a tight angle on the left, Alberto tried to sneak his shot past Bravo at the near post, but the Barcelona goalkeeper pushed the shot onto the bar to keep the game scoreless.

Tempers flashed in the 82nd minute as Malaga's Weligton Oliveira grabbed Messi by the face and pushed the Barcelona superstar to the pitch. Weligton received only a yellow card, while Barcelona's Gerard Pique was also booked, apparently for confronting the Malaga man. 

Weligton later accused Messi of calling him an obscene phrase.

It turned out to be the game's final incident of note. After three minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle brought an end to the scoreless draw.

Grades

Starting XI	Rating
Substitutes	Rating
Carlos Kameni	6.8
Roberto Rosales	6.7
Sergio Sanchez	7.2
Weligton Oliveira	6.6
Miguel Torres	6.8
Sergi Darder	7.0
Ignacio Camacho	7.4
Samu Castillejo	6.5
Duda	6.2
Juanpi	6.5
Nordin Amrabat	5.8
Luis Alberto (for Duda, 67')	6.7
Juanmi (for Castillejo, 77')	6.0
Recio (for Juanpi, 85')	6.1

Starting XI	Rating
Substitutes	Rating
Claudio Bravo	7.1
Douglas	7.0
Gerard Pique	6.9
Marc Bartra	7.9
Jordi Alba	7.9
Ivan Rakitic	6.9
Sergio Busquets	7.4
Andres Iniesta	6.9
Pedro	6.1
Lionel Messi	6.5
Neymar	6.2
Sandro Ramirez (for Pedro, 64')	6.1
Munir El Haddadi (for Neymar, 64')	6.0
Adriano (for Douglas, 73')	6.0

Post-Match Reaction

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique (Marca via Football Espana):

"

There is a lot of work left to do. We’re on the right line. We’ve known what it’s like to suffer. It’s about finding solutions, not excuses.

We’ll keep our self-criticism inside the locker room. We do so when we win so I imagine we will when we don’t. It’s a game that has cost us but it’s clearly a successful one for our rivals.

"

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta (via Inside Spanish Football):

We tried to move the ball quickly and dominate, but it was difficult because Malaga closed everything off at the back. We tried to change our approach, but it’s always difficult.

"

Malaga deserved (the draw), although we lacked quickness to create unbalance and create chances. We’ll try to find other solutions. We’re always going to come against this and it all depends on us being precise and threading the needle. We tried, but it’s diffcult to attack a nine-man defence. We looked to get the win, but it’s difficult to do in La Liga. You have to do really well in order to win.

"