The Blaugrana coach was left troubled by his
side's inability to create chances without the
talismanic Lionel Messi to spearhead the attack
Gerardo Martino admitted Barcelona lacked a
cutting edge after they laboured to a 1-0
victory over Malaga on Sunday evening.
The Liga champions found chances hard to
come by at La Rosaleda, securing the three
points thanks to Adriano's long distance effort
in the first half.
And Martino felt his side's level of
performance suffered as the game went on and
felt they should've created more given their
superior possession throughout.
“Today Barcelona started well but we were
worse as the game went on,” conceded the 50-
year-old.
“We lacked some effectiveness and chances for
all of the possession we had.
“Until the 25th minute of the second half, we
had complete control – only at the end did we
not have the ball and they had two very good
chances.
Neymar again had to settle for a place on the
bench, despite scoring his first goal against
Atletico Madrid in midweek, but Martino was
quick to praise the Brazilian for his impact
after coming on.
“There is a difference between Neymar’s first
game and his latest one,” the 50-year-old
pointed out.
“The important thing is that he always brings
something when he’s playing.”
The Barcelona coach was also quizzed about
Lionel Messi’s fitness and revealed he will
continue to monitor the Argentine's condition
ahead of the second leg of their Spanish Super
Cup clash on Tuesday.
“Messi worked at the club today. We’ll see how
he feels," he said.
“There’s two days remaining before the game,
but we are very pleased with his progress.”
Barcelona take on Atleti having drawn the first
leg 1-1 in Madrid, in which Messi was
withdrawn at half-time after bruising the
muscle in his left thigh.
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