Lionel Messi scored a 90th-minute penalty for his second goal of the night to give Barcelona a 2-1 win over lowly but plucky Leganes in the Spanish league on Sunday.
The champions were poor again following on from Tuesday’s 4-0 Champions League defeat at Paris St-Germain – and could have conceded more were it not for keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
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Messi’s spot-kick, following a questionable penalty after Neymar tumbled in the area, saved Barcelona from a second demoralizing result this week after a 4-0 loss at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Leganes was clinging to a well-deserved point when Neymar stumbled over Martin Mantovani in the area.
The contact was enough to secure a penalty spot and Messi’s league-leading 19th goal of the season.
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The match at Camp Nou started well for the hosts, when Messi tapped in Luis Suarez’s cross after just four minutes.
But Leganes, a modest club from Madrid that was promoted last season, never lost its poise and threatened whenever it emerged from defending its area.
Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen had to make four saves of goal-bound strikes before Leganes’s Unai Lopez fired home the equalizer in the 71st.
Victory sees the Catalan giants move back into second place in La Liga, two points above Sevilla on 51 points – but that is still one fewer than leaders Real Madrid who have two games in hand.
In a week to forget for Barcelona, the highlight involved long-serving midfielder Andres Iniesta, who played his 400th La Liga game for the club since he made his debut in 2002.
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