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Messi illness rules him out for Barca against Malaga

Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Barcelona's game against Malaga on Saturday because of illness.

The forward was a part of Luis Enrique's squad for the match at Camp Nou, but his spot has been filled by teammate Carles Alena.

Barca was already going into this encounter without one component of their "MSN" front line, as Luis Suarez is suspended.

As a result, the Camp Nou outfit is without the scorers of 16 of their 32 league goals this season.

Paco Alcacer, who is yet to score this season in La Liga since joining from Valencia in the summer, has been handed the opportunity to start, though the focus will inevitably be on Neymar, who has only four goals to his name in the league.