No excuses for money bags Barca – Pique

Barca will of course be desperate to retain Messi’s services for as long as possible, and the same seems true of fellow South American Suarez, who has now been officially offered a new four-year contract at the Camp Nou.

The stalemate was not for want of trying, however.

Barcelona, trying to win its fifth game in a row, hadn’t been held scoreless in 17 league games. “Paco was as good as the rest of my players, there’s no Coca-Cola formula here, for a player to score goals he needs minutes”. “We tried but we were unlucky in front of the goal”.

Luis Enrique was happy to have Pique back after three league games on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but he conceded that dropping two points was an unwelcome surprise.

Messi was ruled out just hours before kick-off due to illness, whilst the suspended Suarez looked on ruefully from the stands as an insipid Barca failed to find a way past Malaga’s defensive wall and the inspired Carlos Kameni in goal.

“In terms of chances and the way we played, we were superior to the rival”, he said.

Neymar was one of few Barca players who looked capable of finding a victor but found few willing partners, with stand-in striker Paco Alcacer produced an anonymous display and defender Pique looking far more threatening in attack. The visitors also had midfielder Juankar dismissed in injury time.

Playing 11 against 10, Barcelona went all-out for the win in the final minutes of the contest.

Gerard Pique put the ball in the net for Barca but it was flagged for offside while Andre Gomes hit a post. Fans can get behind City for the win, with the team rated as odds-on favourites with Betway to prevail in what is likely to be a hard game against a side who have lost just one of their last seventeen fixtures on home soil in all competitions. “It’s not just a physical game, it’s very tactical and that’s very tiring”, he said. Recently Barcelona team fight aginst the Sevilla team which results in a winning match for Barcelona team by (1-2).