Barcelona without Lionel Messi, do look lost sometimes, and the Spanish champions showed their nerves in a tight encounter at Malaga, just about holding on for a 1-0 win in La Liga.

With Messi out injured, Barca failed to penetrate the Malaga defence with any great effectiveness and it took a brilliant strike from Adriano to open the scoring just before halftime.

Malaga squandered several chances in both halves, especially the second, with Barcelona pretty much holding on for dear life in the final five minutes.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas felt the Super Cup game against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday had taken a lot out of the players and was the reason behind the flat performance.

"We suffered in those final five minutes but in football you have to know how to suffer," Fabregas told Canal Plus.

"It's true that we are starting a new season, with a lot of new things and we still have room for improvement," the former Arsenal captain added.

"We played a really, really good first half but it's true that in the second we dropped our intensity a little.

"Perhaps we were tired from Wednesday's match, which wasn't easy, and playing these two extra games is more demanding. It was a very, very tough win tonight and a very important one."

Barcelona now have two wins in two games this season and top the La Liga standings, with archrivals Real Madrid set to play their second match of the season at Granada on Monday.

"We started off strong but our performance dropped as the game went on, we played a good first half in which we lacked effectiveness but we created a lot of chances," Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino said.

"We controlled the game up until the 25th minute of the second half, but from that point on we lost possession.

"In terms of results the start of the competition has been positive, and our level of play has been very good at times in the games we've played.

"(However) we have to learn how to close out games when we start to lose control."

Elsewhere, Arda Turan was the star as Atletico Madrid drubbed Rayo Vallecano 5-0, while Celta Vigo edged Real Betis 2-1.

Results: Sunday: Levante 0-0 Sevilla; Malaga 0-1 Barcelona; Atletico Madrid 5-0 Rayo Vallecano; Real Betis 1-2 Celta Vigo.

Saturday: Elche 1-1 Real Sociedad; Espanyol 3-1 Valencia; Villarreal 2-1 Real Valladolid.

Friday: Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Osasuna; Getafe 2-2 Almeria.