Barcelona dismissed another day of political chaos in Catalonia to continue on their merry way at the top of La Liga by beating Malaga 2-0 at the Camp Nou.
That calm transferred onto the pitch as an 11th win in 12 La Liga and Champions League games this season leaves Barca four points clear of Valencia, and eight ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who host Eibar on Sunday.
Gerard Deulofeu flicked home his first ever goal for the club with aplomb, despite the ball clearly having gone out of play before Lucas Digne crossed into the penalty area.
Barca doubled their advantage in the second period when Lionel Messi teed up Andres Iniesta to fire into the top corner via the aid of a deflection.
Here’s our two good and two bad performances from the Camp Nou.
LIONEL MESSI
The Argentine ace has now directly been involved in 500 La Liga goals – 360 goals and 140 assists.
Although he failed to register a goal at the Camp Nou, he provided the assist for Iniesta’s strike early in the second-half.
He made a sublime touch inside the Malaga half and slipped a cleverly weighted ball through to the Barca captain to double the lead.
Lacked the direct service to his feet in dangerous attacking positions but was easily Barcelona’s most active player in the second period.
Lionel Messi.
ANDRES INIESTA
The Barcelona captain scored his first La Liga goal since November 2015.
He latched on to Messi’s pass to hammer home a powerful left-footed effort to seal a win for Ernesto Valverde’s side.
Aside from his goalscoring exploits, the 33-year-old had a 85.9% pass completion rate and made 91 touches during a virtuous 90 minutes.
Andres Iniesta.
ROBERTO ROSALES
The usually solid Rosales looked out of place during the first-half, giving away a clumsy free-kick for a foul on Iniesta and should have done better to close down Lucas Digne’s cross for the first goal – despite the ensuing ball being out of play.
He could not be faulted for his effort when trying to close down Iniesta for Barca’s second, as the ball deflected off his foot when it looked a definite goal anyway.
Roberto Rosales (l).
ADRIAN GONZALEZ
Should have been taken off in the second-half as he offered little around the middle when his side went in search of a consolation goal.
The Spaniard has been pivotal at times for Boquerones this season but has failed to shine in the big games – with Real Madrid on the horizon next month (November 26).
