Following their 2-0 win against Athletic without Messi & Suárez, Barcelona continues its quest for La Liga's top spot when they visit Málaga, a team that despite appearances could make things complicated for the current title holders. Last year, Javi Gracia's side was able to keep Los culés scoreless in both of their meetings, and their recent form shows they could mean trouble for Luis Enrique's men.
After 19 games, Barcelona still trails Atletico by 2 points, but with a game in hand, the Blaugrana side will try to take advantage of the opposition's mistakes in order to boost themselves to the first place of the Spanish top flight. On the other hand, a victory for Los Boquerones could see them reach the upper half of the table for the first time this season, following a dubious start of the tournament.
Malaga
The team from the South of Spain saw their five-game unbeaten streak stripped from them last week, as Javi Gracia's men lost an away match against Sevilla. During that run, Málaga earned three consecutive clean sheets, including one against league leaders Atletico Madrid. Nevertheless, Los Blanquiazules will surely miss Nordin Amrabat's skills, who recently left the club to join EPL side Watford, leaving a huge gap to fill.
Without Amrabat, striker Charles and goalkeeper Carlos Kameni will be key to try and defeat Barcelona, although that might be a bit more complicated to do, since Málaga has only won one home match against Los Blaugranas in the 21st century.
Barcelona
Even if Los Blaugranas still have a game in hand to play, they can't afford losing anymore ground, that's why coach Luis Enrique will be baffled by Neymar's absence. The Brazilian ace was left out of the squad that will make the trip to Malaga due to a left hamstring injury, which will force Luis Enrique to make some changes to his lineup. Jordi Alba will also have to sit this one out due to injury, while Gerard Piqué will be unavailable after picking up a one match ban last week.
Lionel Messi is expected to start up front alongside Luis Suárez, following his first-half substitution last week and his absence from the Copa Del Rey clash last wednesday.
Head to head
Málaga and Barcelona have played against each other 31 times, with Los Culés having a commanding lead against Los Boquerones. Nevertheless, Los Blaugranas were unable to defeat Javi Gracia's crew last season, drawing the first match at La Rosaleda and losing the second one at Camp Nou. This season, a late goal by Thomas Vermaelen broke Málaga's 250-minute streak without conceding against Barcelona, giving Luis Enrique's men a tight 1-0 win.
Overall stats between Malaga and Barcelona
.png?q=75&w=634)
Where to watch Málaga vs Barcelona on TV or online?
Fans in Spain will be able to follow this game via Abono Futbol, Movistar TV Fútbol, Canal+ Liga / HD at 16:00 CET. For those living in the U.S.A., beIN SPORTS CONNECT U.S.A., beIN Sports USA, fuboTV and beIN Sports en Español will be the options to watch this game at 10:00 EST. Finally, fans living in Canada can tune in on beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada, beIN Sports Canada and beIN Sports en Español at 10:00 EST.
Live elsewhere? Check out our Malaga vs Barcelona match page for detailed info to watch this game in your country.
*Please note that live TV listings & online streaming info is subject to change.
Team sheets for Malaga vs Barcelona
Malaga's lineup: Kameni; Rosales, Angeleri, Weligton, Torres; Camacho, Recio, Juanpi, Chory Castro; Čop, Charles.
Barcelona's lineup: Bravo, Sergio, Arda, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Mascherano, Munir, Adriano, Aleix Vidal, Vermaelen.
Malaga's subs: Ochoa, Albentosa, Horta, Tissone, Duda, Roque Santa Cruz, Fornals.
Barcelona's subs: Ter Stegen, Rakitic, Alves, Bartra, Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Mathieu.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
