Malaga ended a run of 12 straight league defeats against Barcelona with a 1-0 victory at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
The only goal of the match came after seven minutes, with Juanmi finishing following a mistake from Dani Alves.
The hosts, who missed the chance to go top, dominated possession throughout the encounter, but struggled for clear opportunities as they lost at home in the league for the second time this season.
Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Spanish rivals.
Match statistics
BARCA
Shots: 11
On target: 5
Possession: 73%
Corners: 11
Fouls: 9
MALAGA
Shots: 11
On target: 3
Possession: 27%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 11
Was the result fair?
On the rare occasions that away teams triumph at the Camp Nou, they almost always have to rely on an exceptional performance from their goalkeeper and a host of missed chances from the home side. Well, that was not the case here. Barcelona dominated the possession - as expected - but they really struggled to create clear opportunities. In fact, Malaga will argue that they had the better of the attacking play throughout the match and the statistics will match that belief. The away side's goal came following a terrible mistake from Alves, which will be discussed later, but there was still more than enough time for the home side to turn it around. However, it was a serious off-day for the Catalan outfit.
Barca entered this match off the back of 11 straight wins in all competitions and with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all in excellent form. It never quite happened for the attacking trio in this particular match, but they were also shaky at the back, which has not been the case for much of this season. Malaga had spells where they had to ride their luck, but, when reviewing the match as a whole, they can have a strong case for believing that they deserved all the points.
Barca's performance
Barca lost 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo earlier this season in a match that had many parallels with this one. On that day, Celta defended with 10 men for long spells and that was the case here. Going 1-0 down at the Camp Nou is not exactly a normal thing for Barca, but they still had plenty of time to recover. They dominated possession throughout the match and while they exerted a lot of pressure, they never really offered the impression that they would definitely find the back of the net. The goals have seriously flowed in recent weeks, but it was one of those matches where very little went right for them.
Malaga's goal came from a poor mistake at the back, but the away side created a number of chances throughout the match and can argue that they deserved at least one goal for their work in the final third. It was one of those matches where all the credit has to go to the visitors. As disappointing as Barcelona were, Malaga's work rate earned them all the points. Victory for Luis Enrique's side would have seen them move above Real Madrid, for 24 hours at least, but the defeat has placed the title race firmly in Los Blancos' hands. It is far from over, but this was a big chance missed for Barca, of that there is no doubt.
Malaga's performance
Malaga entered the match having not claimed a point at Barca for 16 years and having lost 12 in a row in the league at the Camp Nou. They also entered the match off the back of two straight league defeats, with their performances in recent weeks leaving much to be desired. Not many gave them a chance, but their position in the table - seventh - suggested that they could mix it with the best teams in the league. It would have been easy for head coach Javi Gracia to select a defensive XI, but instead the Spaniard chose a team full of youthful exuberance and pace, which ultimately brought the winning goal.
Instead of the experienced Javi Guerra in attack, Garcia selected Juanmi as the out-and-out forward, but the Spaniard was not short of support, with Samu Castillejo and Ricardo Horta joining in when possible. In midfield, Sergi Darder and Recio both had excellent matches, while the skipper Weligton led from the back in sensational fashion. The fact that Barca struggled to create clear opportunities was down to the work rate of the visitors, who somehow kept their level high for the entirely of the match. A top-six finish looks beyond them this season, but, after a number of off-field problems, a top-half finish this term would allow them to build for the new campaign. They were excellent in every single department at the Camp Nou.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Weligton: This is not a difficult decision. The Malaga captain was simply excellent at the heart of his defence - making a number of clearances and sticking his head in when needed. The centre-back's star moment came in the first period when he cleared a goal-bound effort from Neymar off the line. It was a real skipper's performance.
Biggest gaffe
Brazilian right-back Alves is out of contract at Barca this summer, but he might be better off not asking for a new deal immediately after this match. The only goal of the match stemmed from a horror mistake from the defender, who attempted to cushion a Carlos Kameni kick back to his own goalkeeper, but he left Claudio Bravo extremely short. Alves's back-pass never had enough purchase to reach the Chilean and Juanmi was on the scene to round Bravo and finish from close range.
Referee performance
Barcelona will have a number of complaints about referee Juan Martinez's performance, but the Spaniard did not really make any serious errors. There were a couple of free kicks here and there that might have gone differently, but, overall, Martinez had a fair match. The official issued seven yellow cards and yet allowed the play to flow when necessary.
What next?
Barca: The Catalan outfit are in Champions League last-16 action on Tuesday as they travel to Manchester City for the first leg. They then return to domestic duties away to Granada next Saturday afternoon.
Malaga: Next up for Malaga is a home match against Getafe next Saturday.
Matt Law
