Barcelona fell to a first half deficit after a sluggish start but second half goals from Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal spared the Blaugrana blushes as Messi and co made away with a 2-1 victory over Kenneth Omeruo's Leganes on Saturday afternoon.
Youssef En-Nesyri opened the scoring with a beauty but Barca rallied after the break to silence the hosts who had Super Eagles star Omeruo on parade for 83 minutes before he was hacked off after suffering a knock.
An underwhelming half for the visitors saw them concede after just 12 minutes when En-Nesyri netted a stunning goal by bending a strike into the top-left corner to stun the visitors.
The lead, however, lasted till only seven minutes after the interval when a pinpoint Lionel Messi free-kick was turned home by his Uruguayan teammate, Suarez.
With ten minutes of play left, Ernesto Valverde's men grabbed the winning goal when substitute Arturo Vidal scrambled home a strike that VAR had to approve following hints of offside.
The visitors would not mind their listless performance, however, especially with the three points earned at the Cucumber Growers the only difference between them and a chasing pack led by Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid.
Nigeria's Kenneth Omeruo will be disappointed though by a loss that condemns his team to another weekend at the foot of the La Liga table and seven points away from relegation safety.
