Barcelona are eight points ahead of Real Madrid in LaLiga after a solid, but unspectacular win against Malaga at Camp Nou.
Gerard Deulofeu scored a controversial first Barcelona goal as his side extended their lead at the top of LaLiga with a workmanlike 2-0 victory over Malaga.
Winger Deulofeu ended a 16-game wait to open his account in Barca colours by striking after only 113 seconds to conclude a move that had seen Lucas Digne carry the ball out of play before setting him up.
Andres Iniesta netted his first goal for club and country in over a year after the break to end any hopes of a Malaga comeback.
Barca were far from their free-flowing best against a Malaga side they failed to beat either home or away last season, the only LaLiga team they did not get the better of.
However, the victory saw Ernesto Valverde's men restore a four-point lead over closest challengers Valencia, who thumped Sevilla 4-0 earlier on Saturday, at the top of the table.
Rivals Real Madrid sit eight points adrift in third and are at home to Eibar in their game in hand on Sunday.
Match reports
2' GOAL!!! Barcelona 1-0 Malaga (Deulofeu)
The home side benefit from a terrible decision to take the lead. Deulofeu flicks the ball home with his heel from Digne's cross, but the ball had gone out of play before the Frenchman had put the ball into the box. All the Malaga players had stopped, allowing Deulofeu to score. It's fair to say they're not happy about the decision and they're well within their rights to think so.
10: WIDE! Iniesta sends a teasing cross into the box and Prieto comes off the line to gather. Raktic avoids the contact and misses the ball as it trickles wide of the net. The midfielder should have been a tad braver there.
28: BLOCK! The referee puts a line down for the wall to stand, but Malaga move three yards ahead of it. The official does not tell them to get back and tells Messi to get on with his strike. Messi takes the free-kick, only to slam his effort straight into the wall. Malaga clear the danger from th rebound.
40: Messi lifts a dangerous ball forward into the box and Suarez almost collects, but Hernandez does well to clear with a convincing header at the back. He had to make that interception.
HALF-TIME: Barcelona lead Malaga 1-0 at the break at the Camp Nou through Gerard Deulofeu's controversial strike. The home side took the lead in the second minute when the winger converted Lucas Digne's cross, but the ball had gone out before the Frenchman had sent it in from the left flank. However, the officials did not spot it and the goal counted. The Catalan club have been far from their best this evening and there have been opportunities for Malaga, but Gonzalo Castro has spurned two good chances in the box.
53:Chance! And with 53 minutes on the clock Messi finally has a shot on goal! He engineered space for himself brilliantly before firing a low shot in from an angle but Prieto got down smartly to keep it out and Hernandez swept the loose ball away from danger and out for a corner.
56: GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Malaga(Iniesta)
Iniesta notches his side's second goal as latches onto Messi's pass in the inside left channel and hammers his effort past Prieto. The ball did take a deflection off the boot of Rosales after the strike, but it was on the path to goal anyway. Better intensity from Barcelona to reaffirm their control of the game.
74: Suarez misses a big chance!
Chance! Wow.. what does Suarez have to do to score?! Roberto showed great persistence down the left before teeing up his teammate perfectly but Suarez somehow dragged his shot wide of the post from inside the six-yard-box.
Key Opta stats:
- Lionel Messi has been directly involved in 500 goals from 391 appearances in LaLiga (360 goals and 140 assists).
- Malaga are the only side that Luis Suarez has failed to score against in LaLiga (11 shots attempted in five games).
- Gerard Deulofeu has scored his first goal in his 16th appearance for Barcelona in all competitions this term (14 shots in total).
- Andres Iniesta has scored four goals against Malaga in LaLiga, his favourite opponent in the competition.
- Barcelona have won their last 17 games at home in LaLiga, the longest active run of any team in the competition.
- Deulofeu has scored the fastest goal in LaLiga this season (one minute and 53 seconds).
- Andres Iniesta has scored his first LaLiga goal at the Camp Nou since March 2014 against Osasuna, 1315 days ago.
- Lucas Digne has made his first assist in his 20th appearance for Barcelona in LaLiga.
- Samuel Umtiti is the only Barcelona player to have attempted more than 100 passes in a LaLiga game this season (103, 98 successfully).
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Mascherano, Umtiti, Digne; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Deulofeu.
Barcelona subs: Semedo, Pique, Denis Suarez, Cillessen, Paulinho, Alcacer, Gomes.
MALAGA (4-2-3-1): Prieto; Rosales, Hernandez, Baysse, Perez; Rolon, Gonzalez; Keko, Castro, Rolan; Penaranda.
Malaga subs: Baston, Juanpi, Cifu, Gonen, Cecchini, Robles, Mula.