Neymar's recent boot changes at the beginning of matches have been down to comfort, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has said.
The Brazil international changed his footwear inside the opening 10 minutes of Barca's 3-0 win over Sevilla on Wednesday -- the second time in a row he had done so.
It briefly left Barca down to 10 men and also led to allegations on social media theorists that it could be a marketing ploy because TV cameras pan to him changing his footwear.
Luis Enrique rubbished that theory but admitted it is a risk to be left a man short, even if only for a couple of minutes.
"I haven't asked him about it," the Barca boss said at a news conference on Friday ahead of his side's weekend trip to Malaga.
"I think he's been bothered by something in the boots he's been wearing and he's had to change them.
"It's a risk, but I would prefer him to be off the pitch for one minute than on it for 90 feeling uncomfortable -- he doesn't change them just to change them.
"But we will try to make sure it doesn't happen again because it's true it's a risk to go even one minute with one less player."
Barcelona have only beaten Malaga twice in five games since Luis Enrique took charge in 2015 and the coach chose to focus on what happens at La Rosaleda rather than looking ahead to the trip to Real Madrid later this month.
"No, we have to win the game against Malaga because if we don't things get a lot tougher," he said when asked about Andres Iniesta's comments that Barca would have to win at the Bernabeu in order to win La Liga.
"We have to focus on what we can control -- getting three points in Malaga. We will look at other things later. Of course games between direct rivals are vital, but everything right now is Malaga."
Luis Enrique has been forced to call up two B team players, Carles Alena and Alex Carbonell, for the game with a number of players out of action.
Rafinha, Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal are all carrying injuries, while Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique are suspended.
Neymar on Friday reminded his Instagram fans of his friendship with teammate Lionel Messi by posting this: "They said that we were not going to get along...the rest is history."
Falaram que a gente não ia se dar bem ... o resto é história 🤙🏽😉 @leomessi
A post shared by Nj 🇧🇷 👻 neymarjr (@neymarjr) on
League leaders Madrid host local rivals Atletico prior to Barca's game against Malaga and Luis Enrique joked: "If I don't take a siesta, I will watch it.
"Derbies are different, special games. Both teams need the points. We have seen all types of matches between them in recent years. It will be an open game."