Thievy Bifouma scored shortly before half time to give Almeria a 1-0 lead over Barcelona in their La Liga clash this afternoon.

Lionel Messi had a couple of chances to break the deadlock early on, but Ruben parried the first before holding on to the second to deny the Argentine.

The hosts responded well, and came close to taking the lead themselves when Angel Trujillo tried to head in from a Verza cross, but he did not get a clean contact with the ball.

The crossbar prevented the visitors from edging ahead just before the half-hour mark when Messi headed the ball against the woodwork from close range after Ruben had denied Ivan Rakitic.

Messi had the ball again shortly before the break, but the striker lost possession, allowing Fernando Soriano to play the ball in for Thievy to slot into the bottom corner.