Sergio Busquets has jumped to the defence of team-mate Malcom after the 21-year-old scored his first Barcelona goal in the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan.

Malcom has endured a nightmare start to his Blaugrana career following his summer switch from Bordeaux.

The €41million signing was making just his fourth appearance for the club after rising from the bench at the San Siro on Tuesday evening.

It was his first game since a poor outing in the 1-0 Copa del Rey outing against Cultural Leonesa, however, Busquets has praised the attacker’s attitude.

“It’s not fair that he’s judged on one game in the cup because he had hardly played all season before that,” Busquets said. “It’s impossible to have any sort of rhythm [when you aren’t playing regularly]. There was a lot of unjust [criticism] about the players that played in the cup.

“We’re all happy for Malcom. His tears were emotional. He’s not getting the minutes he wants, but in training he’s working really hard. He really wants to turn things around.

“He’s a great kid. He’s done really well and the goal will do him good. He is going to help us a lot.”