Malaga 0-2 Barcelona: Easy going as Suarez and Coutinho strike
Two fine goals helped send Barcelona 11 points clear at the top and one step closer to the title
This was so very different to last season. Malaga beat Barcelona 2-0 and Neymar was sent off, when the teams met at La Rosaleda in April 2017. Nearly a year on, and everything was reversed.
Málaga
0 ________________ 2
FC Barcelona
LINE UP
Málaga
Roberto; Rosales, Hernández, Ignasi Miquel, Ricca; Samu, Iturra, Lacen, Chory (Lestienne, 61'); Rolán (Success, 78') y En-Nesyri (Brown, 78').
FC Barcellona
Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (André Gomes, 74'), Piqué, Umtiti, Jordi Alba (Digne, 77'); Busquets, Rakitic, Dembélé (Aleix Vidal, 85'), Coutinho; Paulinho y Luis Suárez.
GOLES
0-1, Luis Suárez (14'); 0-2, Coutinho (27')
Árbitro
Martínez Munuera. TA: Iturra (49') y Luis Suárez (84'). TR: Samuel (29')
Incidencias
Partido disputado en La Rosaleda ante 26.677 espectadores.
Barcelona beat Malaga by that scoreline and Samu Garcia was deservedly sent off, for a horrifying lunge at Jordi Alba. And while that defeat put the title into Real Madrid's hands, this victory brings Barcelona even closer to winning it back. They are 11 points clear with 10 games to go. A position it is impossible to see them blowing, no matter what fate concocts.
Lionel Messi was absent for the birth of his third son but even if he has another one next week, Barcelona don't seem capable of slipping up. Ousmane Dembele finally arrived, coming to the fore in the Argentine's absence. He offered energy, pace, skill and that knack of unbalancing defenders that Neymar used to offer Barcelona before taking early retirement.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring after 15 minutes, having been given a scare in the 13th after Roberto kept out his shot so well it seemed the Malaga goalkeeper was Carlos Kameni reincarnated. Jordi Alba shouldered the burden left by Messi, by providing the sort of inch-perfect ball we are so accustomed to seeing from the Argentine. And even Suarez couldn't find anything controversial to do with the ball, which bounced off his head and into the net.
Jokes aside, the Uruguayan has now scored against each and every La Liga team he has played. He will not, however, play against Athletic Bilbao next weekend, having picked up his fifth booking of the season late on.
By the game reached late on, Barcelona were in hibernation mode, keeping the tank full to play Chelsea next week. The goal which afforded them such a cushion was marvellous, one of the best of the season from any team in any league. Ousmane Dembele's turn left his marker in another timezone, with the Frenchman stopping the ball dead so he could come back to it and square for Coutinho, who backheeled it past Roberto and into the net. A goal worth 300 million euros.
Samu's red card after 30 minutes more or less rendered the last hour pointless, a formality, the buffering bar ahead of Wednesday's blockbuster Champions League clash with Chelsea.
