Barcelona: Barcelona went to Malaga without Lionel Messi and won 2-0 to go 11 points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
With Messi remaining in Barcelona after the birth of his son Ciro it was left to Luis Suarez to lead the line and the Uruguayan broke the deadlock on 15 minutes.
Jordi Alba crossed from the left and Suarez rose to head past Roberto Gimenez.
Philippe Coutinho got the second on 28 minutes when he cleverly flicked the ball over the line from Ousmane Dembele’s cross.
Two minutes later Malaga were reduced to 10 men when Samuel Garciawas sent off for a wild lunge at Alba’s ankle.
Both teams had their chances in the second half but Youssef En-Nesyri failed to reach a Manuel Iturra cross and Dembele and Coutinho both had shots saved from Roberto.
A delighted Coutinho said: “We did well to get ourselves in front with two early goals and then against 10-men we were able to control the game and play more passes.”
Asked how the team coped without Messi he added: “He is the best in the world, so we always miss him when he’s not there.”
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde singled out Dembele’s performance adding: “He needs time after such a bad injury. He’s young and it is normal that he goes step-by-step.”
The win leaves Barcelona 11 points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid who face Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help third-placed Real Madrid win 2-1 at Eibar.
Ronaldo now has 18 league goals this season and has scored 17 goals in the last 10 games in all competitions.
Madrid took the lead on 35 minutes after Ronaldo finished past Marko Dmitrovic from Luka Modric’s fine pass.
Eibar levelled five minutes into the second half with Ivan Ramis heading in Pedro Leon’s cross.
But Ronaldo had the last word with a bullet header from a Dani Carvajal cross six minutes from time.
Asked about Ronaldo, Madrid midfielder Casemiro said: “We have to just enjoy him. He’s the best in the world and it’s a pleasure to play alongside him.”
Zinedine Zidane added: “He’s from another galaxy.”
The coach was delighted with the win after the Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
“It means a lot to win here after what we did in Paris. In the first 20 minutes we couldn’t get out of our half but we came through,” he said.
Also on Saturday Sevilla lost 2-0 at home to Valencia, perhaps waving goodbye to their hopes of the top-four finish that guarantees Champions League football next season.
Rodrigo Moreno scored both the goals for fourth-placed Valencia, who are now 11 points clear of fifth-placed Sevilla.
Moreno said: “Nothing is decided yet but this was a fundamental victory for us over our closest rival.”
Elsewhere, Levante beat Getafe 1-0 with a goal from Coke 11 minutes from time. — dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
