Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Malaga

BARCELONA

Valdes: 6 - Made a fine save from Duda's free kick in the first half but otherwise had very little to do except to pick the ball out of his net.

Dani Alves: 6.5 - Showed what Barcelona had been missing with his runs down the right hand side and was frequently involved in the final third, setting up the second goal.

Puyol: 6 - There was little threat to deal with from Malaga, but he dealt well with Obinna's pace. Drawn in too easily as the Nigerian played in Valdo for the goal however.

Pique: 6 - Picked up a needless booking for protesting, but was otherwise solid at the back and threatened at set pieces.

Maxwell: 6 - Provided an option on the overlap but was generally confined to a more withdrawn role to allow for Dani Alves' attacking instincts.

Xavi: 8 - He played some fantastic football in the middle of the pitch, summed up by a breathtaking through ball that split half the Malaga team in the build up to Messi's winner.

Busquets: 7 - No theatrics from the defensive midfielder tonight, but a good steady performance in the midfield as he broke up a number of Malaga attacks and kept the pressure on the visitors.

Iniesta: 7 - Often cut inside onto his right foot to swing in some dangerous crosses, but was sometimes guilty of trying to over-play the ball. Unlucky to see a shot come back off the crossbar in the second half.

Messi: 7.5 - Scored the decisive goal with a simple finish, but like Iniesta he was sometimes trying to play the perfect ball rather than shooting himself. A dynamic performance nonetheless.

Ibrahimovic: 5.5 - Slack and lazy once more - often looked to be a step behind the play. Had a goal disallowed in the final minutes after he fouled Weligton in the build up.

Pedro: 7.5 - Scored on his 50th appearance for the club, and his pace and skill were far too much the players that were supposed to mark him, Torres in particular.

Substitutes:

Bojan: N/A - Almost set up Ibrahimovic in the final minutes.

MALAGA

Munua: 6.5 - He made a fine save from Xavi and tipped over a header from Ibrahimovic, but could have done more to prevent Pedro's shot from going in.

Gaspar: 5 - His defending was as bad as his haircut as he gave away possession cheaply and allowed the Barcelona front three to get in behind him on far too many occasions.

Stepanov: 6 - Had to go off injured in the first half, but did nothing wrong while he was on the pitch.

Weligton: 7.5 - Made some good blocks to keep Barcelona at bay in the first half before making a superb goalline intervention from Ibrahimovic in the second period.

Torres: 4.5 - Really couldn't cope with Pedro's pace and should have been sent off in the first half for a second yellow card. Withdrawn at half time.

Juanito: 7 - Dropped back into defence after Stepanov's injury, and the defensive midfielder did a good job of preventing too many clear cut chances falling Barcelona's way.

Toribio: 5.5 - Didn't really do much to prevent Barcelona from dominating possession in the midfield, thereby putting more pressure on his defence.

Fernando: 6 - Carelessly conceded possession to Messi in the first half which almost led to the opening goal, but he tried to offer an attacking option on the right hand side and helped out his defence.

Baha: 5.5 - While Malaga were pressed back for long periods of the game, Baha did very little to cover or to provide an attacking option when Malaga ventured forward

Duda: 6 - Tested Valdes with a good free kick early on, but the visitors needed to make more of the set pieces that he almost invariably took.

Obinna: 6.5 - His pace posed a real problem for the Barcelona defence but he was given minimal service. Combined well with Valdo to set up the equaliser.

Substitutes:

Edu Ramos: 5 - The youngster only turned 18 just over a week ago, and his inexperienced showed when he was faced with Xavi and Iniesta in midfield.

Valdo: 7 - He nearly had too much time to think about what to do as he bore down on Valdes, but he kept his cool to score his first goal for 14 months with a composed finish.

Forestieri: 5.5 - Thrown on with 20 minutes remaining but had a negligable impact on the game as Barcelona dominated the final stages.