Barca fail to break down Malaga

The Blaugrana's 100 per cent record in La Liga came to an
end after a battling display from the hosts at La Rosaleda,
despite an impressive performance from Jordi Alba

Lionel Messi was made to wait for
his 400th senior career goal as
Malaga held Barcelona to a 0-0
draw on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique's men came into the
fixture at La Rosaleda having won
all four of their opening league
fixtures without conceding a single
goal.
And, while the Catalan outfit were able to preserve that
impressive defensive record, a failure to turn possession into
goals will disappoint their coach.
Jordi Alba proved to be a constant menace down the left in the
first half, but the visitors were unable to make the most of his
repeated dangerous deliveries.
Claudio Bravo pushed a Luis Alberto free kick onto the post
midway through the second half, and Barca held on for what
eventually turned out to be a hard-fought point.
The result sees Barcelona, who had won the last 12 league
meetings between the sides, remain top on goal difference
from Sevilla, while Malaga maintain their record of having not
conceded at home this season.
Luis Enrique continued to rotate his defence by bringing Gerard
Pique, Marc Bartra and debutant Douglas in for Javier
Mascherano, Jeremy Mathieu and Dani Alves following the 5-0
demolition of Levante on Sunday, while Neymar was fit to start
after recovering from an ankle injury.
Barca applied the early pressure and Malaga defender Sergio
Sanchez did well to thwart threatening crosses from Pedro and
Ivan Rakitic, but Bravo had to be alert at the other end to get
his body behind a drilled effort from Nordin Amrabat.
The half continued at a frantic pace and Messi - chasing his
400th senior goal for club and country - curled a free kick from
20 yards over the crossbar, before Pedro diverted just wide
from an Alba cross.
Having seen close-season signing Luis Suarez score twice for
Barcelona B in a friendly against an Indonesia XI earlier in the
day, the visitors' starting attackers might have been feeling the
pressure to perform ahead of the Uruguayan's October return
from suspension, and Messi should arguably have done better
when he chested wide from another Alba ball into the area.
Barca were dominating possession, but a failure to truly
challenge Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni saw them enter
the break without finding the net, despite Alba's effervescent
running down the left wing.
Luis Enrique wore a stern expression on the touchline as
Malaga continued to frustrate their visitors at the start of the
second half.
Bartra headed narrowly wide from a corner on the hour mark,
before Neymar's match came to an end when he was replaced
by Munir El Haddadi on 64 minutes.
Roberto Rosales' drilled effort shortly afterwards drifted wide,
but served as a reminder of Malaga's attacking threat, and Luis
Alberto's free kick – palmed onto the post by Bravo –
reaffirmed that point.
Malaga captain Weligton was perhaps lucky not to escape
harsher punishment as he was shown a yellow card for
grabbing Messi's face in a late scuffle.
But 0-0 is how it would remain, as Luis Enrique suffered his
first minor setback since taking the reins at Camp Nou.