Barcelona 2-1 Malaga

Posted Sunday, February 28, 2010 by Goal.com

There was late drama at the Camp Nou, but the Blaugrana eventually emerged on top.

Barcelona welcomed Dani Alves back into the starting lineup, while Pedro also earned a start. Malaga, meanwhile, were pinning their scoring hopes upon Victor Obinna, who lead the line.

As expected, Barca began the match dominating possession, but it was Victor Valdes who was called into action first, palming Duda's free-kick away. Soon, however, the Blaugrana started creating their own chances, with Lionel Messi heading Alves' cross wide.

Messi was creating problems aplenty for the visitors, and only a desperate sliding challenge from Weligton stopped him opening the scoring after he had been played through on goal. Alves was also causing havoc on the right flank, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic should have done better with a deep cross, but he failed to control.

Malaga's problems were compounded further early on, when Milan Stepanov had to be withdrawn due to injury, to be replaced by Edu Ramos. On 25 minutes, 'Ibra' had another chance to break his Camp Nou drought, but his free-kick from distance bent just around the post. Then, on the half hour, Messi cut inside down the right, but blasted over the bar from a tight angle.

Barca were utterly dominating possession, but finding that elusive goal remained a struggle. On 37 minutes, Xavi flicked Andres Iniesta's cross goalwards, but Gustavo Munua was on hand to tip it over. Then, on the stroke of half-time, Pedro's low ball across goal seemed to invite Ibrahimovic to tap it in, but the Swede could not reach it. There was still time for one more chance, but Messi's shot was blocked, after he had been set up by Pedro.

Thus the first half ended goalless, with Barca hoping to make their dominance count in the second period.

Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz made an immediate change for the second half, withdrawing Manu Torres for Valdo. However, it was the hosts who had the first chance, with Ibrahimovic seeing his header tipped over by Munua, after Messi had set him up. The shots continuted to flow, with Iniesta firing wide from distance soon after.

Ibrahimovic was having a frustrating night, and his misery was compounded on the hour mark, when his header was cleared off the line by Weligton. It looked like Barca may never break the deadlock despite their dominance, but on 68 minutes, Pedro unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that beat Munua at his near post, giving the hosts a well deserved lead.

Barca showed no intention of simply wanting to hang on to their lead as they went searching for more goals, and Iniesta was extremely unlucky to see his shot bounce out off the underside of the bar. Then, Messi and Xavi nearly combined to devastating effect, only for the ball to get cleared as the Argentine was preparing to shoot.

It seemed as though the missed chances would not come back to haunt the hosts, but, with ten minutes remaining, Valdo stunned the Camp Nou when he raced clear onto Obinna's pass and slotted past Valdes.

Barca were shocked but continued looking for the winner, only for Iniesta to see Munua save his snapshot with ease. Then, with seven minutes left, the match took another twist when Dani Alves broke free and squared the ball for Messi, who only had to slot into an empty net, giving the champions the lead once more.

With seconds remaining, Ibrahimovic thought he had sealed the game, but his effort was ruled out for a foul on the defender. That proved to be the final act of a dramatic game, at the end of which Barca maintained their two point lead at the top.