BARCELONA, Spain : Lionel Messi set up substitute Sandro Ramirez to score on his league debut and give Barcelona a 1-0 victory at Villarreal in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Villarreal held Barcelona in check at El Madrigal Stadium until Messi took Neymar's through-pass and drew out goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo before finding the 19-year-old Ramirez to push in the 82nd-minute winner.
Messi was as incisive as in Barcelona's home opener last week when he scored two times in a win. But at El Madrigal Stadium he was twice denied by the goalframe when Asenjo blocked his free kick off the post in the 28th and his shot stuck the upright in the 76th.
Neymar came on as a second-half substitute for his first competitive game since fracturing a vertebra at the World Cup, having missed last weekend's league opener with a left ankle sprain. The striker misfired twice before starting the move that led to Barcelona's goal by passing to Messi in the area.
Hemmed in by Asenjo and a defender on the right side, Messi squeezed a low pass under Asenjo for the streaking Ramirez to tap home.
Villarreal also had its chances to go ahead earlier after hitting the goalframe on two occasions. Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu almost scored an own goal in the 51st before Tomas Pina's long strike rattled the bar in the 72nd.
Barcelona got its second win in as many games under new coach Luis Enrique, putting it two points ahead of defending champions Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid was seeking its second win in as many rounds later at Real Sociedad.
Luis Enrique also saw another successful debut by a player from Barcelona's "B-Team," which he coached from 2008-2011. Last week it was 18-year-old Munir El Haddadi who scored to round off Barcelona's 3-0 win over Elche. This time it was the 19-year-old Ramirez, who had a perfect league debut after substituting Pedro Rodriguez in the 69th.
"(Luis Enrique) looks to the youth team and we try to make the most of it," Ramirez said.
