Super sub Messi nets brace for win

BARCELONA • Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said Lionel Messi had agreed to start as a substitute against Real Betis on Saturday, after the Argentina forward came off the bench to net twice for a 5-2 La Liga win.

The captain had not failed to make the team's first XI since a defeat by Granada in September last year. It prompted speculation especially as Messi put in a transfer request in the summer but had withdrawn it over Barca's decision to dig their heels in.

However, Koeman claimed the 33-year-old had not been feeling well since Wednesday's 2-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League and so his omission as a starter was just a precaution.

"Since yesterday, we were talking about some discomfort he was feeling since the game and we decided that the best thing was to leave him on the bench in case we needed him," the Dutchman said.

"He would have started if he hadn't had any discomfort. We all know who he is and I don't have any doubts about him. He didn't start but he was very important in the second half."

Barca, who had failed to win their last four league outings, created lots of chances without Messi in a wide open first half, but only had Ousmane Dembele's opener to show for it.

When Antoine Griezmann failed to convert his penalty and Betis equalised late in first-half added time via Antonio Sarabia, it looked like Betis might make the hosts pay.

But Messi was thrown on for the injured Ansu Fati right after the interval and one of his first acts on the ball proved to be decisive, dummying Jordi Alba's cross for Griezmann to tap home early on.

He then scored a penalty before nabbing his first goal in open play this season, with Pedri rounding off the scoring.

Barca's first league victory since Oct 1 took them into the top half of the table with 11 points from seven games, but it was soured by Fati's injury. The 18-year-old, who has pulled out of the Spain team for the coming international fixtures, suffered an internal meniscus tear in his left knee that is expected to keep him out for months.

Fati has emerged as one of the team's most exciting players this season, having netted six goals, including one for Spain in September, which made the fleet-footed winger his country's youngest goalscorer.

Lionel Messi took until the 10th game this season to score from open play.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS