Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga on Saturday evening with a 2-0 win over Malaga.Ousmane Dembele was the star performer in the absence of Leo Messi, who was missing following the birth of his third son, Ciro.Goals from former Liverpool teammates Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho sent Barca 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid."Of course there's a title race," said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde after the win. "While it’s still mathematically possible, you can’t rule anyone out. I won’t rule [Real Madrid] out and they will do well not to rule themselves out, too."Zinedine Zidane's side beat Eibar 2-1 earlier on Saturday but are still 15 points adrift of Barcelona.Dembele - who joined the Catalan giants from Borussia Dortmund for £135.5m in August - is still yet to score for his new club.He bagged an assist for Brazilian teammate Philippe Coutinho, who produced a glorious backheel finish to make it 2-0.
“Dembele is a brilliant player and today he demonstrated that,” Coutinho told reporters. “The move was perfect.”
The 20-year-old winger was an unused substitute in Barcelona's Champions League first leg 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
Dembele's individual highlights
His performance against Malaga will surely convince Ernesto Valverde to give him some playing time in the return leg on Wednesday night.
Dembele's individual highlights proved popular amongst Barca supporters on Twitter - it was surely his best game in a Barcelona shirt.
Watch below.
He was simply unplayable.
“Today things went his way more than in other games but the good thing about him is that he always wants to take on opponents,” said the Barcelona coach.
“He tries to dribble and he also gives us an extra edge such as with the second goal today due to his ability to cut inside and give assists.”
Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic suggested Dembele's Barcelona teammates have never doubted his quality.
“He didn’t need a game like this as we all know he is a magnificent player,” Rakitic said.
“We know he’s just come back from an important injury, especially for the type of player he is. We keep on giving him support, we like him a lot.”
Dembele's first goal in Barcelona colours is surely just around the corner.