Barcelona delivered one of their worst performances of the season and Lionel Messi had his first off day of the year as Luis Enrique’s team were beaten 1-0 at home by Malaga just three days before they face Manchester City.
If Manuel Pellegrini wants a masterclass in how to play Barcelona he need only look to the way his old club have played them this season.
They drew 0-0 at La Rosaleda earlier in the season and never looked into too much trouble at the Camp Nou after Juanmi put them ahead on seven minutes after a mistake by Dani Alves.
Barcelona looked fragile at the back with Malaga’s lightning breaks exposing their high defensive line. They were second to everything in midfield and with Messi and Neymar strangely below par they blew their big chance to go top of La Liga.
This was Barcelona’s first defeat since the first game of the year when David Moyes’ Real Sociedad beat them. After that game the blame was all placed at tinkering Luis Enrique’s door.
This time the buck stops squarely with the players and Manchester City’s only fear will be that they will be more determined than ever to put things right in their next game.
Reflecting on his side's performance at the Nou Camp, Barca boss Enrique was less than impressed: 'I would go as far as to say we deserved to lose the game.
'It’s an advantage that we have a game in just three days time and it’s a very big one
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