3 Reasons why Barcelona won 2-1 over Leganes

Barcelona maintained their hold on the top spot in La Liga with a 2-1 win over Leganes at the Butarque stadium.

But the win was far from straightforward for the Catalans. Leganes are at the bottom of the table, but they were on par with Barcelona for most of the game. They took a surprise lead through Youssef En-Nesyri in the first half. En-Nesyri found space on the right side in the box and curled in a beauty in the far corner. Marc-Andre ter Stegen had absolutely no chance in the Barcelona goal.

Leganes were content with their advantage and they made the game hard for Barcelona. The score stayed the same till half-time. Luis Suarez made it 1-1 in the second half after heading in from a free-kick. Barcelona were knocking on the door, and they got the winner they were looking for. Arturo Vidal smashed home from close range after another set-piece situation.

The game was not an entertaining one for the neutral, but it was an important win for Barcelona. Leganes remain rooted at the foot of the table.

1. Arturo Vidal bails out Barcelona's poor attacking performance

Vidal netted the eventual winner

The best and the worst teams in the league were playing at the Butarque, but that wasn't the case during the game. Barcelona had great firepower in attack, but it failed to translate into anything on the pitch. Even the mercurial Lionel Messi has a quiet game and failed to instigate much.

Luis Suarez returned from injury, and he scored the equaliser in the game. But the Uruguayan missed two other chances which could have made the game easier for Barcelona. Both the wingers - Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele.

Griezmann has still not fit in at the club and he looked out of place again on the wing. Dembele was careless on the ball and he had too many turnovers of possession. The two full-backs were not first-choice as well, and they failed to create much going forward. Arturo Vidal scored late on to rescue the three points, but it was a poor display from the attacking unit overall.

2. Barcelona improve after a woeful first half

Griezmann had a game to forget

Ernesto Valverde tried a new 4-2-3-1 system in this game, but it fell flat in the first half. Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele both played on either wing, and Lionel Messi played centrally behind Luis Suarez. But the team showed no attacking impetus in the first half.

Despite dominating possession they failed to create anything of note. Leganes were playing with a deep compact line and Barca did not get behind the defenders. Thankfully though, they improved in the second half.

Even though the improvement was not marked, they assumed control of the play. Messi's delicate free-kick was headed home before Arturo Vidal got a goal in the last ten minutes. It was a scrappy goal, but Barcelona's constant pressure was finally rewarded. Despite the win, Valverde will be worried about how his side played in the first half and for the majority of the game.

3. Leganes fail to assert themselves after scoring

Leganes could not build on the lead

Playing against the top side in the league, Leganes were off to a dream start in the game. En-Nesyri scored a great goal to give them the lead, and an upset was on the cards. But they could not build on that lead and lost the game as a result.

Leganes had 23% of the possession in the entire game, and they had few forays into the Barcelona box. They had just two shots in the box, and both were tough chances, to say the least.

Barcelona were always going to dominate the play, but Leganes could have posed a better threat on the counter-attack. Leganes made just 91 passes in the final third in the entire game. In contrast, Barcelona made 319 in the match. As it turned out, they were too passive, and Barcelona got the three points with a late goal.