Barcelona came out on the winning side of a five-goal thriller against Real Sociedad on Saturday as Lionel Messi's brace drove the title contenders to a 3-2 victory and back within three points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Messi
struck twice to put the Blaugrana 2-0 up before Samuel Umtiti's own
goal and Paco Alcacer's quick reply made it 3-1, and Xabi Prieto fired
in Sociedad's second on the stroke of half-time.
Alcacer
started in place of the suspended Neymar, who served the first match of
the three-game ban he received as a result of the dissent he showed
following a red card in the recent 2-0 defeat to Malaga.
Manager Luis Enrique could
hardly have hoped for Barca to get off to a slicker start at the Camp
Nou on Saturday, where Messi needed just over a quarter of an hour to
set his side on their way to victory.
The
Argentinian undoubtedly gets his best finishing done inside the area,
but Sociedad stopper Geronimo Rulli was helpless to prevent his
countryman's opening thunderbolt from 25 yards, via Sky Sports La Liga:
Messi's second strike wasn't
quite as crisp in comparison, but Enrique will have been encouraged to
see Alcacer playing his part in the build-up alongside Luis Suarez.
Alcacer's back-heel inside the box teed up Suarez for a shot before Messi diverted home the ricochet, and Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was left in awe of the South American's remarkable Barcelona record:
Umtiti was unfortunate to
score in his own net after Inigo Martinez's shot thumped off the
Barcelona centre-back and past Marc-Andre ter Stegen just five minutes
later, cutting the home side's goal advantage down to one.
However,
Alcacer was on hand to restore the two-goal cushion with his fourth
goal in seven matches, when Messi spotted his run down the left side of
Sociedad's box and fed the former Valencia man to ease Barca ahead.
With
44 minutes on the clock, the Camp Nou hosts would have been forgiven
for thinking that lead would last until the interval, but Prieto's
injury-time intervention lifted La Real's spirits right before
half-time.
Willian Jose's
smart pass allowed Prieto to finish first time and give the guests hope
as Andres Cordero of beIN Sports hinted at the Sociedad star's pedigree
Unfortunately for those in
attendance at the Camp Nou, Saturday's second half didn't produce
anywhere near as much entertainment in terms of goalmouth action as the
two teams failed to net again in the final 45 minutes.
Enrique's
hosts remained in control of the fixture for the most part, edging
their opponents in possession taken and shots on target, per WhoScored.com.
That
being said, not for the first time of late, Barcelona showed their
share of weakness in a far-from-perfect display, although there is
comfort to be taken knowing Enrique can rely on his backups to pull
through for the team.
Barca
might have climbed closer to La Liga leaders Real Madrid were it not
for Isco's late winner against Sporting Gijon earlier on Saturday, where
a 3-2 victory was enough to keep Los Blancos out of reach.
That
being said, the Blaugrana's attention now turns back to the European
stage as Enrique's side seek to hit back a 3-0 deficit in the second leg
of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Juventus this Wednesday.
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