3 Reasons why Barcelona won against Leganes

Benching two lynchpins in Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic, FC Barcelona seemed to be experimenting against CD Leganes on Sunday night at Camp Nou. Considering the lead at the top and home-crowd advantage, the gamble sounded sane from Valverde’s standpoint. To reap his efforts, the hosts put on some impressive display early in the match. Ousmane Dembele shone the brightest to make a key contribution in the opening goal.

Leganes were also a bit attractive on the flip side. The visitors looked to put in a good show from the start. However, the French winger’s flamboyance overshadowed them to put La Blaugrana in the driver’s seat at the end of the first half.

Dembele's injury and Leganes' comeback goal opened the contest once again. Resorting back to his trump cards, the ex-Athletico Bilbao manager brought in both Messi and Rakitic. The Argentine talisman turned the game in his side’s favour with an assist and goal.

Let us now look at 3 reasons why Barcelona won against Leganes.

#1 Healthy Squad Rotation by Barcelona boss

Despite getting accused of not encouraging the academy graduate like Denis Suarez, Sergi Samper and others by Barca fans, Victor Valverde has been changing the starting line-up every now and then.

Right when it was believed that Dembele lacked the discipline required by a Barcelona player, the boss encouraged him to be himself and the result is there for everyone to see. Of late, Philipe Coutinho has been having similar issues. Nevertheless, the Brazilian has been given the starting spot in the recent matches.

The scenario has created an assurance of playtime in every player’s mind. Consequently, a tough cum healthy competition is there for every single position. Hence every single player is giving their best when given some playtime. The squad rotation also optimizes the playtime for regular starters, thereby preventing fatigue.

#2 Poor tactics from CD Leganes

How fortunate are you as a LaLiga team, when Messi is benched while you play against the league leaders? It was so poor from Leganes manager for not ushering his team to kill the game just when they were having a good time around the park.

Despite Dembele’s heroics, the white and blue stripes had a considerable amount of chances, which were left unutilized.

Mauricio Pelligrino should have at least pushed his team to attack more and cause a problem or two in Barcelona's backline. Instead, he went for a conservative approach which backfired as Valverde brought on his star men in the second half to kill off the game.

Although, the goal from Braithwaite was well constructed and finished but it acted as a wake-up call for the home side who then responded in great fashion with goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.

#3 Lionel Messi’s intent

Ousmane Dembele was arguably the best player last night and was deservedly picked as the man of the match. Jordi Alba had no lesser impact, involving himself directly in two of Barca's three goals. Luis Suarez had a decent game as well as he became one of the top scorers for the club in the history.

But it was the 5-time Ballon dór winner, Lionel Messi whose introduction to the game broke the deadlock. As soon as he stepped on to the pitch, Barcelona looked a totally different team. The immediate effect was felt when he shot a powerful curler to the far post top corner. If not for the save, it would have been one of the goals of the season.

Even when the tie was almost decided, he was still hungry for more and scored a goal in the stoppage time. His link-up play with Jordi Alba for the third goal was a treat to watch.