Messi the supersub

Lionel Messi came off the bench to score twice and lead Barcelona to a 5-2 home victory over Real Betis on Saturday, snapping a four-game winless streak in La Liga for the Catalans.

Barca's captain was surprisingly left out of the starting lineup by coach Ronald Koeman, who later explained that Messi was feeling a little discomfort after the 2-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv in mid-week and had agreed to start on the bench.

"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," Koeman said.

There was however a bad news for Barca as Ansu Fati is set for several months on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury during win over Betis.

A Barca statement said Fati, who turned 18 last month, had ruptured the internal meniscus in his left knee and that the club were currently weighing up different treatment options, without giving details on when he could expect to return.

Fati was included in the Spain squad for their upcoming fixtures against the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany but is unlikely to return to action for the rest of the year.