Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by Malaga in La Liga
as they missed the presence of influential forwards Lionel Messi and
Luis Suarez.
Suarez was suspended for the stalemate at the Nou Camp and Messi missed out following a bout of illness.
Gerard Pique put the ball in the net for Barca but it was flagged for offside while Andre Gomes hit a post.
Malaga finished the match with nine men after Diego Llorente and Juan Carlos were both shown red cards.
Llorente was sent off for a late tackle on Neymar in the 68th minute while Carlos was dismissed for dissent in injury time.
Barcelona monopolised possession in the contest and had 28 attempts
at goal but struggled to break down a resolute Malaga defence.
Barca centre-back Pique, who was thrown up front in the final 10
minutes as Luis Enrique’s side adopted a more direct approach, saw a
late penalty appeal turned down by the referee.
Malaga’s best chance came just before the hour mark when
Carlos rounded Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but could
only strike the side netting from a tight angle.
Barcelona remain in second place and are a point behind table-topping
Real Madrid, who face city rivals Atletico at the Vicente Calderon at
19:45 GMT.
Earlier, Sevilla moved up to third after they fought back from 2-0
down to clinch a dramatic 3-2 victory over Deportivo La Coruna thanks to
Gabriel Mercado’s injury-time winner.
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