Lionel Messi scored a 90th-minute penalty as a lacklustre Barcelona team recorded a 2-1 win over struggling Leganes in Sunday night's La Liga contest at Camp Nou.
Leganes, on their first ever visit to Camp Nou, looked to have secured a point when Unai Lopez cancelled out an early strike from Messi, but the Argentine netted a second from the spot late on to spare the home side's blushes.
The result has seen Barcelona return to second position in La Liga ahead of Sevilla, but they are still one point behind league leaders Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.
Barcelona's team showed four changes to the one that lost at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League - Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all dropping out, with Jeremy Mathieu, Lucas Digne, Ivan Rakitic and Rafinha coming into the selection as Luis Enrique shuffled his pack.
As for Leganes, key midfielder Ruben Perez missed out through suspension, but there was a spot in the XI for Nabil El Zhar, who was tasked with supporting Alexander Szymanowski and Miguel Angel Guerrero in the final third.
Barcelona absolutely flew out of the traps and made the breakthrough inside the opening four minutes when Luis Suarez beat the offside flag before delivering a sensational cross into Messi, who had the simple task of tapping home.
The hosts had more than 80% of the ball in the opening 10 minutes of action as Leganes struggled to make their mark, but the visitors had an outstanding chance to level in the 17th minute when El Zhar broke into a one-on-one situation with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, only to be denied by the German goalkeeper on two separate occasions.
Barcelona's next clear chance arrived just before the 30-minute mark when Suarez released Messi with a fine pass inside the Leganes box, but the away side's on-loan goalkeeper Iago Herrerin was out to make a smart save.
Leganes, who continued to grow into the first period, had another chance of their own in the 34th minute when Martin Mantovani rose unmarked inside the Barcelona box, but the centre-back's header cleared the crossbar.
The final opportunity of the first half also fell to Leganes and only a brilliant reaction save from Ter Stegen prevented a deflected effort from El Zhar deservedly levelling the scores for the improving visitors.
Leganes started the second period how they finished the first, and French centre-back Mathieu had to be alert to prevent a goal-bound strike from Guerrero causing Ter Stegen some concern in the 48th minute.
Guerrero had another opportunity in the 55th minute after breaking clear inside the Barcelona box, but once again Ter Stegen was on hand to make a smart save as the goalkeeper's one-man show continued.
Neymar tested Herrerin with a low strike just before the hour, but the better chances continued to fall for Leganes and Szymanowski hit the side-netting with a powerful effort after again evading the capture of Samuel Umtiti.
Rafinha created a yard of space inside the Leganes box 20 minutes from time before sending the ball past Herrerin, but full-back Diego Rico was on hand to clear off the line as the score remained 1-0 entering the final stretch.
Leganes sensationally levelled the scores in the 71st minute, however, when Lopez fired the ball past Ter Stegen after fellow substitute Darwin Machis had picked out the midfielder inside the Barcelona box.
Enrique called for the cavalry ahead of the final 10 minutes as Iniesta, Denis Suarez and Alba were all introduced, but Leganes were the team pressing for a second as they looked for a sensational first victory at Camp Nou.
Herrerin took the ball off Neymar's toe in the 85th minute as Leganes continued to frustrate Barcelona, but the home side were given a lifeline in the 89th minute when Mantovani brought Neymar to the deck inside the box with a poor challenge and Messi stepped forward to double his tally for the night and secure a three vital points for the champions.
Next up for Barcelona is a trip to Atletico Madrid next weekend, while Leganes' battle to stay outside of the relegation zone continues with a home game against Deportivo La Coruna.
Matt Law
