Barcelona vs Malaga. Spanish La Liga.
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Sunday 20 November 2016 08:13, UK
Barcelona dropped crucial points in the race for the La Liga title on Saturday after being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by nine-man Malaga at the Nou Camp.
Luis Enrique's side dominated the match but were unable to break through Malaga's stubborn defence without Lionel Messi, who was suffering from an illness, and the suspended Luis Suarez.
The visitors ended the game with nine men after Diego Llorente and Juan Carlos both saw red in the closing stages.
Barcelona missed the chance to go top of La Liga and could now fall four points behind rivals Real Madrid - if Zinedine Zidane's side beat Atletico Madrid on Saturday night.
Barcelona started the match well and had the ball in the net as early as the third minute, when Paco Alcacer - in for the suspended Suarez - saw his first-time finish ruled out for offside.
Neymar, fresh from his international exploits with Brazil, then fired a volley narrowly wide of Carlos Kameni's right-hand post as the home side looked to make the breakthrough early on.
Alcacer was then guilty of wasting a superb chance when he miscued a shot wide when well placed inside the area.
As the half wore on, Malaga's confidence grew and former Barcelona youngster Sandro Ramirez tested Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a long-range strike.
Barcelona continued to toil against a resolute Malaga defence but could have taken the lead minutes before the break when Arda Turan failed to connect with Rafinha's smart flick across the face of the goal.
Malaga had rarely threated the home side's goal during the first half but almost took the lead after the break when Carlos fired narrowly wide after rounding Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal.
Any chance of an away victory was all-but ended minutes later, however, when Llorente received a straight red card for hacking down Neymar in midfield.
As time continued to run out, Gerard Pique was sent up front for the hosts and thought he had found the winner when he tapped home Andre Gomes' rebounded shot - only to see his goal chalked out for offside.
Neymar then saw a goal bound header superbly saved by Kameni with just minutes remaining in the match.
Malaga ended the match with nine men when Carlos was shown a straight red card for dissent six minutes into added time.
However, the home side were unable to take advantage in the dying minutes as Malaga held on for an unlikely point away from home.
