La Liga 2016/17: Barcelona 2-1 Leganes, 5 talking points

BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 20: Lionel Messi (R) of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammate Sergi Roberto (L) after scoring his team's second goal during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis Balompie at Camp Nou on August 20, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) — Only Lionel Messi, Roberto and Rafinha started their careers at La Masia from today’s line-up

#4 Leganes let down by their play in the final third

BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 19: Unai Lopez of CD Leganes shoots on goal and scores his team's first goal during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and CD Leganes at Camp Nou stadium on February 19, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) — Unai Lopez’s shot was poor but Gomes’ and Mathieu’s interference and Ter Stegen’s error ensured a goal

Yet another team has not taken anything against Barcelona because of their play in the final third. Leganes did extremely well to hold two lines of defence and also managed to trouble Barcelona’s midfield. Goalkeeper Iago made a few great saves to bail out Leganes on a few occasions in both halves.

However, the biggest let down for Leganes was their passing in the final third and finishing. Leganes started off like most small teams visiting the Camp Nou would – nervous and shaky. They soon realised that the Barcelona they are facing is bruised and quickly picked up their tempo.

Nabil El Zhar’s work rate was incredible and was unlucky not to equalise late in the game. While Guerrero did make a few threatening runs, he was unlucky to be tackled by Barcelona’s defenders on most of the occasions that he seemed to have a chance. A missed opportunity for Leganes to sum up their game.

Edited by Staff Editor