Juanmi's seventh-minute goal was decisive as Malaga dealt Barcelona's La Liga chances a huge blow.
Gracia said his team did almost everything right, just as is needed against Luis Enrique's star-studded outfit.
"To beat Barcelona, you need to get several things right," he told a media conference.
"You need to do great defensive work because of the rival's qualities. Obviously, in order to win you also have to take advantage of your chances.
"Our attacking chances were going to come from moving the ball fast, counter-attacks. We knew we were going to be mostly in our half of the pitch trying to defend well.
"This win came after much hard work and consistency throughout the 90 minutes.
"If you put all of that together, you get the victory for a team like ours in such a difficult moment like this one."
Malaga sit seventh, but the win ended a two-game losing league run and sees them remain in European contention.
Gracia knew the importance of the victory.
"They are very valuable points because after two consecutive defeats there was a serious chance of getting a third, coming to such a difficult stadium like this one," he said.
"I'm happy because we get closer to our goal of keeping our place in the league, but there are still many games to play."
