Malcom’s second-half strike rescued a draw Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night.
In the first of three games between the two Spanish giants over the next 24 days, it was the visitors who took an early lead when Lucas Vazquez netted after just six minutes.
But Malcom, who started in place of Lionel Messi, levelled shortly before the hour mark to keep Barcelona in the tie as they bid to win the competition for a fifth consecutive year.
Messi, carrying a minor leg injury, was named on the Barcelona bench by manager Ernesto Valverde.
For the visitors Gareth Bale, who returned from a calf injury in Real’s 3-0 win over Alaves last weekend, had to be content with a place among the substitutes on Wednesday night.
Real are making their first appearance at this stage of the Copa del Rey since they beat Barcelona in the final nearly five years ago.
And it was Santiago Solari’s side who secured the perfect start after they took the lead inside just six minutes.
Vinicius Junior was the creator, carrying the ball down Real’s left-hand side before finding Karim Benzema in the Barcelona area.
The France forward chested down Vinicius’s cross before pulling the ball back for Vazquez who made no mistake from a handful of yards out.
Real may be eight points adrift of their rivals in La Liga, but they were the quickest out of the traps, and had chances to double their lead in the opening period.
Yet Barcelona began to ease their way back into the first leg, and shortly after the half-hour mark struck the woodwork.
Malcom’s free-kick found Ivan Rakitic, but his header rattled off the bar.
The hosts went into the interval with a one-goal disadvantage, but 12 minutes after the break were back on level terms.
Jordi Alba was played in on Barcelona’s left-hand channel, only to meet a fast-charging Keylor Navas who looked to have averted the danger.
The ball, however, fell to Luis Suarez and, from an impossible angle, the former Liverpool man’s strike hit the post. With Navas still scrambling back towards his own goal, the rebound fell to Malcom who fired the ball home.
Moments later, Messi was introduced and so, too, Bale. Messi’s impact appeared immediate and Barcelona were in the ascendancy.
But the home side failed to muster up a clear-cut opening and it was Bale who had the best opportunity to win the match in the final 10 minutes.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen charged out from his area but his clearance fell only to Benzema, who was quick to find Bale.
But, with Ter Stegen out of his goal, Bale was slow to react, his first touch was wayward and his shot was blocked and cleared.