Last-gasp Messi penalty rescues poor Barcelona

TIL Desk Sports/ Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off lowly Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the Spanish champions continued on Sunday. Barca were thrashed 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday to leave their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread and had to rely on Messi for snatching all three points from another below par display.

The Argentine opened the scoring after just four minutes, but Leganes enjoyed the better of the chances and levelled 19 minutes from time through Unai Lopez. However, Messi ensured Barca did move back up to second in La Liga and close to within a point of leaders Real Madrid, who have two games in hand, from the spot after Neymar had been chopped down inside the area.

“We knew it would be a difficult game given what we have come from and what happened in the Champions League,” Barca boss Luis Enrique told Spanish TV station Movistar.  “It is clear that in some moments we lacked confidence, but I think the team turned around a difficult game in any way we could. This time it was a penalty, but, given how we are at the moment, that is more than welcome.”