Lionel Messi Winner Completes Barcelona Comeback Against Alaves in La Liga

Alaves gave Barcelona all they could handle during Sunday's La Liga match, but a late winner from Lionel Messi gave the Catalans a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou.

The visitors more than held their own in the first half and took the lead in the 23rd minute through John Guidetti after some sloppy defending from Barcelona.

The Blaugrana dominated possession after the break, but it took until the 72nd minute for Luis Suarez to tie things up. Messi powered a late free-kick past goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco to hand his side the three points.

Here's a look at the two teams:

Alaves shocked the Catalans at the Camp Nou in the 2016-17 season, winning 2-1, and the Basques once again started Sunday's match with plenty of intensity and no fear of their opponents.

Lucas Digne fired the first real chance of the match wide, but he and his team-mates struggled to deal with Alaves' high press, and the visitors started to get some looks of their own. Marc-Andre ter Stegen only just dealt with a tricky cross from Ibai Gomez, and the German made a key save minutes later after a good counter and a poor challenge from Samuel Umtiti.

Luis Suarez put Pacheco to work before the visitors took a shock lead, again courtesy of a strong counter. Gomez did the bulk of the damage with a tremendous pass, and while Guidetti got the finish, football writer Samuel Marsden thought he got a little lucky:

Just minutes later, Ter Stegen had to pull out all the stops to keep his team from going down 2-0, producing a superb save on Ruben Sobrino. Andres Iniesta fired over before Sobrino again went close, thanks to a poor defensive effort from Gerard Pique.

Ruben Duarte flung himself in front of Philippe Coutinho to deny him the equaliser―injuring himself in the process―and Pacheco stopped a free-kick from Messi, as the Blaugrana increased the pace toward the end of the half. It resulted in one more major chance, but Messi's curling free-kick found the post, rather than the net, with Pacheco getting a touch.

AS English were impressed:

Barcelona's start to the second half wasn't convincing, and manager Ernesto Valverde soon intervened, taking off Nelson Semedo for Sergi Roberto and Digne for Jordi Alba. Those changes didn't have an immediate impact, however, and Roberto's attempted shot that nearly hit the corner flag summed up the Catalan efforts.

Pacheco did well to keep out Messi, who couldn't put real power behind his shot, and a diverted effort off Duarte nearly opened up the defence as well. 

Per Marsden, Coutinho's full debut as a starter did not go the way he probably imagined:

Paulinho saw Pacheco save his shot in one go, and the stopper was again on point when Messi fed Suarez after a mad scramble. Paulinho again couldn't get the ball past Pacheco before Suarez finally broke his resolve, firing a volley off Pique and into the net. Replays suggested the ball came off Pique's hand, but there was no way for the official to see it.

Per football writer Sid Lowe, Roberto played a key role in the buildup:

Another Messi free-kick caused Pacheco some minor problems, and Suarez perhaps should have doubled his tally after Duarte gave away a free chance with a poor header. 

Barcelona's late push came to fruition again after 84 minutes, when Messi finally worked one of his many free-kicks past Pacheco, who got a hand to the ball but couldn't keep it out. Alaves once again had reason to feel hard done by, as the free-kick was given for a foul on Paco Alcacer, who was offside.

Now it was Alaves' time to push, and Munir El Haddadi claimed a handball after Pique blocked his shot. There would be no late heroics, however, as the hosts grabbed the win.

Barcelona's next outing will be the Copa del Rey clash against Valencia, while Alaves host Celta Vigo in La Liga.