Barca 2-2 Malaga: Bitter fruit for the defending champion

Copa del Rey defending champions Barcelona let Malaga earn a valuable 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp, making the return leg a week later unpredictable.

GOAL
Barca:Messi (29'), Puyol (30')
Malaga:Iturra (26'), Camacho (90')

Lionel Messi's four-time Ballon d'Or debut was not a complete success as coach Tito Vilanova's team dropped an unfortunate victory despite having the advantage in terms of score and personnel.

Barca lost a big advantage

Immediately after Messi's introduction, Barca entered the match quickly and at speed, forcing Malaga to retreat to their own half. However, despite creating many scoring opportunities, Alexis Sanchez somehow wasted them in a regrettable way. When he could not find the net of the away team, Barca unexpectedly conceded when Thiago gave the away team the opening goal after a subjective move right in front of the home team's 16m50 box and had to pay the price with a goal from Manuel Iturra.

But Malaga could not celebrate for long because within just one minute (29 and 30), Barca scored two consecutive goals by Messi and Puyol.

In the second half, both sides played cautiously. Coach Vilanova sent three key players Fabregas, Pedro and Xavi onto the field in search of a goal to increase the gap. Malaga immediately shot themselves in the foot when substitute Nacho Monreal received a red card, forcing his teammates to brace themselves against the Catalan team's formidable attack for the rest of the match.

Unfortunately, when Barca were confident that victory was in their pocket, they conceded a second goal after Ignacio Camacho's close-range shot in the 90th minute.

Held 2-2 at Nou Camp, Barcelona's chances of advancing are threatened when on January 23, the two teams will have the second leg at Malaga's home ground.

LINEUP
Barca:Pinto - Adriano, Mascherano, Puyol, Montoya - Thiago (Xavi 78'), Song, Iniesta - Alexis (Fabregas 74'), Messi, Tello (Pedro 74').

Malaga:Kameni - Gámez, S. Sánchez, Weligton, Eliseu - Seba, Camacho, Iturra, Portillo (Moneral 46'), Buonanotte (Duda 69') - Saviola (Cruz 65').

First leg results of the King's Cup quarter-finals
Real 2-0 Valencia
Real Zaragoza 0-0 Sevilla
Barca 2-2 Malaga
Atletico Madrid - Betis (played on January 18)

According to Bongdaplus - DT