After falling to a shock defeat to newly promoted Alaves last week, Lionel Messi who was absent in that game turned in a performance of the highest order, netting a brace and inspiring Barcelona to a 5-1 La Liga win over another newcomers, Leganes on Saturday.
The Catalans were keen to avoid any upsets similar to their 2-1 home loss to Alaves and Luis Enrique put out the strongest starting XI at his disposal.
His decision to field his best paid off as Barcelona dominated from start to finish – Messi opening the floodgates in the 15th minute before Luis Suarez doubled the lead.
Neymar put the result beyond question right before the break, but that did not stop Messi netting his second via a penalty in the second half.
Rafinha rounded off the scoring right after the hour mark, rendering Gabriel Appelt’s consolation for Leganes inconsequential.
