Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico Madrid to go top of La Liga after Lionel Messi's acrobatic volley secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory against tenacious Malaga Saturday. Munir El Haddadi, deployed up front in place of the injured Neymar, fired Barca ahead in the second minute at the Rosaleda Stadium on the south coast after smart work from Luis Suarez. However, the visitors were unable to exert their customary control and Malaga, whose relentless pressing unsettled the Spanish and European champion, netted a deserved equalizer in the 32nd minute. Javier Mascherano surrendered possession in a dangerous area and the ball fell to midfielder Juanpi whose shot was deflected in off the former Liverpool player as he slid across to block. Messi was back in the side after sitting out Wednesday's 2-1 King's Cup triumph at Athletic Bilbao as a precaution but the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner was largely anonymous in the first half. Barca was much improved in the second period and took a 2-1 lead in the 51st minute when Messi cracked Adriano's cross past keeper Carlos Kameni. The Argentina captain was falling away from the ball as it dropped and he caught it perfectly on the volley to send it arrowing into the corner for his 11th goal of an injury-disrupted campaign. Barca is on 48 points, one ahead of Atletico before Diego Simeone's side hosts seventh-placed Sevilla Sunday. Real Madrid is four points adrift of Atletico in third place ahead of Sunday's trip to Real Betis which is 15th on 21 points. Qatar-owned Malaga is 12th on 24 points. Almeida scores on Bundesliga return Striker Hugo Almeida scored on his return to the Bundesliga Saturday but couldn't prevent his new club Hannover from slumping to a 2-1 home loss to Darmstadt. Almeida, who joined from Anzhi Makhachkala during the winter break, scored 10 minutes into his Hannover debut, only for Sandro Wagner to equalize from close range, and then convert the rebound after Jan Rosenthal's header struck the post right after halftime. It was Thomas Schaaf's first game in charge of Hannover, now bottom after its seventh defeat from nine games at home. The former Werder Bremen coach took charge of the struggling side on Dec. 28 and signed Almeida on Jan. 16. The Portuguese striker enjoyed a successful 3 1/2 seasons under Schaaf at Bremen until 2010. Stuttgart came from behind to win at Cologne 3-1 and climb out of the relegation zone. Cologne, which was playing in its carnival-themed strip, went ahead through Anthony Modeste's penalty, only for Daniel Didavi to equalize before the interval. Timo Werner headed Stuttgart in front in the second half, and Christian Gentner sealed it late. Bayer Leverkusen captain Omer Toprak scored with 15 minutes remaining to salvage a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim, which opened the scoring through Jiloan Hamad's fine strike. Also, Ingolstadt defeated Mainz 1-0 at home thanks to Moritz Hartmann's penalty, and Hertha Berlin played out a scoreless draw with visiting Augsburg, enough to stay third, five points behind Borussia Dortmund ahead of the late game. Bayern Munich opened the second half of the Bundesliga season with a 2-1 win at Hamburg Friday as Robert Lewandowski's goals took Pep Guardiola's side 11 points clear. Poland striker Lewandowski's goals took his league tally to 17 this season and 25 in all competitions.
