Barcelona have returned to the top of the La Liga table following a 2-1 win at Malaga in Saturday's early start.

Juanpi cancelled out an early Munir El-Haddadi strike as the two teams entered the second half all square, but the returning Lionel Messi won it for Barcelona with a volley early in the second period.

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It took just two minutes for Barcelona to open the scoring, Munir continuing his fine run in front of goal by tapping home a low cross from Luis Suarez.

Malaga managed to settle after the blow of conceding that early strike and had two headed chances either side of the 10-minute mark, but neither Duje Cop nor Charles could convert.

Chory Castro then unleashed a strike from outside the box, but Claudio Bravo got down to push the Malaga attacker's effort onto the post as the home side continued to threaten.

Barcelona managed to regain control of the possession as the 30-minute mark approached, but the Spanish champions were struggling to undo a stern Malaga defence, which settled after cracking in the opening 120 seconds.

Indeed, the hosts were deservedly level in the 32nd minute when Juanpi's effort took a deflection off Javier Mascherano and landed in the bottom corner following a loose piece of Barcelona defending, which was a feature of the opening 45 minutes at La Rosaleda.

Cop had a couple of half-chances to send Malaga ahead in the latter stages of the first period, but the striker fired over before hitting one straight at Bravo in the Barcelona net. Down the other end, Carlos Kameni kept out a low effort from Munir as the pair entered the break on terms.

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It was Barcelona that had the first sight of goal in the second period, but Messi, who was quiet in the first half, could only strike a well-placed free kick into the wall. Messi is not often quiet for too long, however, and the Argentine sent his team ahead in the 51st minute when he volleyed an Adriano cross past Kameni.

Malaga remained a threat, however, and came close when Castro drilled a low cross towards Charles, but Bravo was on hand to clear with a firm one-handed save.

Suarez and Ignacio Camacho both had opportunities just past the hour, but the two goalkeepers came out on top as Barcelona remained 2-1 ahead with 30 minutes of football remaining.

Malaga pressed for a leveller in the latter stages and came close on a couple of occasions, but the visitors held out to secure a vital win that sees them return to the top of the table, one point ahead of Atletico Madrid.