A much-weakened Malaga defended resolutely to frustrate the Catalan giants at Camp Nou. TheHardTackle takes a look at the talking points from the game.
Barcelona had to be content with a point after failing to find a way through the stubborn Malaga defence, with the home side without the services of the influential duo of Lionel Messi (illness) and Luis Suarez (ban).
Here are the talking points from the match:
Lack of squad depth a worry
Barcelona’s squad depth, or lack of it, was yet again exposed against Malaga. The Blaugranas have possibility the strongest playing XI in Europe when all members of the team are fit, but in terms of options for squad rotation, the team does seem to lag behind the likes of Real Madrid and others.
Lionel Messi’s illness, Luis Suarez’s ban and Andres Iniesta’s recuperation from a knee injury meant manager Luis Enrique had to field a much-changed side on Sunday. But none of the squad players took the onus to lead when the team needed them the most. The summer-signings have been underwhelming at best this season.
The genius of Messi has been papering the cracks for Barcelona in recent weeks, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for the near future. Barcelona can’t afford to lose anymore ground in the title race, but the squad players have to support adequately if the club is to finish top of the table at the end of the season.
The Paco Alcacer conundrum
Paco Alcacer’s start to life in Barcelona can at best be defined as a disappointment. The former Valencia forward was given a golden opportunity to make his mark in the absence of Luis Suarez, but the striker rarely looked the part leading the line, in very listless display on Sunday.
The problem with Alcacer in recent weeks has been mainly with his profligacy in front of goal. But against Malaga, the 23-year-old was totally anonymous; making no useful contribution of note to the team.
It does reflect very poorly on Paco Alcacer that Barcelona looked more much threatening when Gerard Pique went upfront in a desperate move for a goal by Luis Enrique towards the end of the game.
Barcelona’s worst start to La Liga and poor record at home
Barcelona have already dropped seven points at home, picking up only 11 out of possible 18 points in La Liga matches that have taken place at Camp Nou this season. In comparison, they had only dropped eight points each in the whole of 2014/15 and 2015/16 at the fortress Camp Nou.
While it must be said, with only 12 games played the La Liga is far from over, but it’s still worth pointing out that this season has seen the club’s worst start (26 points) in the league since 2007/08 (24 points) when Frank Rijkaard was in-charge.
Such is the competitiveness at the top of the table in Spain that every point counts, and bitter rivals Real Madrid currently have a four point advantage at the top over the Blaugranas. This season’s revelation, Sevilla, are breathing right down their neck, with only two points behind at third place.
Malaga deserve credit for their resilience
The visitors came into the game on the back of poor form, having lost four of their last eight games. The odds were heavily stacked against them, with manager Juande Ramos forced to field as many as four players from their ‘B’ team due to injury set-backs and suspensions.
But Malaga entered the pitch with a clear plan and executed it to perfection. Even after going down to 10 men in the 68th minute, the players kept their cool and continued to defend the eighteen yard box resolutely.
Barcelona’s player were left frustrated by the well-drilled defense and could only use the last resort of aimlessly crossing in the box, which the Malaga defenders dealt with effortlessly. The home side did manage to carve an opening a few times, but goalkeeper Carlos Kameni was always there to save the day, especially towards the ending stages of the game.
Malaga richly deserved their hard-fought and hard-earned point.
