First Division - Day 5

Málaga 0 - Barcelona 2

Málaga: Munúa; Jesús Gámez, Weligton, Cuadrado, Manu Torres; Fernando (Valdo 46'), Xavi Torres, Juanito; Duda (Albert Luque 76'); Obinna, Baha (Forestieri 55'). 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Dani Alves, Chigrynskiy (Piqué 55'), Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Touré Yaya (Busquets 78'), Keita; Pedro, Henry (Ibrahimovic 28'), Messi. 4-3-3.

Goals:
0-1. 39. Ibrahimovic. Picked up Messi's lifted pass and slid shot past Munúa.
0-2. 59. Piqué. Got behind defence to poke Xavi's long free kick past keeper.

Yellow cards: Baha 16', Touré Yaya 31', Duda 67', Weligton 69', Xavi Torres 69', Piqué 69' / red cards: Luque 86'.

Barcelona beat Málaga 0-2 in the last match on Saturday evening, a result which was a goal short of keeping them in top spot. Guardiola had rested Ibrahimovic at the start, but an injury to Henry meant he was forced to turn to the Swedish striker earlier than expected. And within ten minutes of coming on he tested Munúa and then opened the scoring, picking up a lifted pass from Messi to beat the keeper.

It was a physical game though, with Weligton in particular risking a red card by treading on Messi's ankle as he lay on the ground. Piqué replaced the injured Chygrynskiy after the break, and he too got his name on the scoresheet five minutes later after connecting with Xavi's free kick. Only an early effort from Obinna had caused any problems for Víctor Valdés, and when substitute Albert Luque was sent off for a foul on Alves it was all over