A goal from Argentine Leo Messi at the beginning of the second half, in the 52nd minute, when he finished a cross from the left by Adriano, gave the victory to Barcelona, which also has a pending match due to the World Club Cup.
In the first half, in which Malaga had more opportunities than their opponent, Barcelona took the lead with an early goal from Munir El Haddaoui (2), but Venezuelan Juan Pablo Añor, Juanpi, equalized for the Andalusian side (32). With the absence of Brazilian Neymar, who was unable to play due to discomfort in his hamstrings, the famous Barcelona MSN was reduced to Messi and Uruguayan Luis Suárez, who made an assist to Munir shortly after the start of the match to put Barcelona ahead.
But the blue and red team struggled from that moment on, with Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen making many mistakes. Malaga had several chances in the first half, until they scored the equalizer after just over half an hour of play, taking advantage of a poor clearance from Javier Mascherano. Venezuelan Juanpi received the ball from Brazilian Charles in the area and beat Chilean Claudio Bravo.
After halftime, Luis Enrique decided to leave Vermaelen on the bench, as his errors had caused a lot of trouble for Barcelona, and with the entry of Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu, the Catalan team regained defensive solidity.