Whisper it quietly, but there’s a crisis at Camp Nou. How else do you explain what’s going wrong with Barcelona at present?

Try as they might, the Catalans couldn’t break down a stubborn Malaga defence last time out and this was despite having at least 80 per cent possession across the 90 minutes. That’s already the third time this season that Barca have dropped points at home and it doesn’t bode well.

Lionel Messi was out again — withdrawn at the 11th hour after vomiting in the build-up to the game — but that’s no real excuse. As Gerard Pique rightly noted post-match, the sporting budget that the Blaugrana have is far in excess of most teams in La Liga, including Malaga, and they need to be putting those teams to bed.

Are we finally starting to see the limitations to Luis Enrique’s management? When any one of Messi, Suarez or Neymar doesn’t start, Barcelona don’t carry anywhere near the same threat — and importantly, they don’t offer anything extra in a tactical sense now either.

There has been talk again recently that the Barca coach will leave his post at the end of this campaign in any event, mirroring the actions of Pep Guardiola who left on his own terms at the end of a trophy-laden four-year reign.

Could it be that the uncertainty is already affecting the playing staff? Or perhaps that Enrique has taken the players as far as he can? It’s certainly a school of thought that can be explored because 2016/17 Barcelona is far from vintage.

Take a look at Paco Alcacer’s disastrous performances for his new team as a start point…

Sticking to the principles that have been part of club philosophy since Johan Cruyff’s tenure in the hot-seat is all well and good but when there’s a match to be won and such tactics are proving to be counter-productive, then something different is required to open up the opposition.

Malaga was a must-win game. Why? Because Barca’s next two league fixtures are away at Real Sociedad — where they’ve not won for nine years — and at home to Real Madrid. It’s entirely possible that those two games could be lost and Enrique’s side will find themselves 10 points behind their greatest rivals as we wind down into the Christmas break.

But even before such an important El Clasico, the Blaugrana face a difficult away game in the Champions League against Celtic.

Don’t let the 7-0 back in September fool you. Hark back to 2012 when Barcelona were overwhelming favourites again, yet left Glasgow empty-handed after a 2-1 defeat.

As intimidating an atmosphere as they will find anywhere, given their current malaise the visitors will have to be somewhere approaching their very best to ensure they leave Scotland with a victory.

Failure to do so again could kick-off the worst fortnight in Luis Enrique’s Barcelona career.