MADRID (Reuters) - Lionel Messi scored one goal and made another one of his seven consecutive league victories in the Primera Liga on the night of Frenchman Osman Dembli's 3-1 win over Liganes on Sunday.
Barcelona, who have lost 1-0 to Liganes in the first leg of the season, have risen to 46 points, remaining five points ahead of closest rivals Atletico Madrid, while Liganes are at 22 points.
Barcelona's Udman Dembli, 32, was the winner of the match, but Martin Prithwaite scored the equalizer for the 57th minute.
A quarter of an hour after the second half, Catalan coach Ernesto Valverde pushed the Argentine star who had been on the bench since the start of the game to make him welcome to meet the team ahead of Sevilla in the King's Cup next Wednesday.
Messi managed to make the difference after he made the second goal of the Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez 71 from following a strong shot from the Catalan team leader, who scored the third goal of the hosts in the second minute of time calculated rather than lost to the game.
Messi has raised his scoring goal in this season to 18 goals, boosting his lead in the top scorer of the competition, three goals ahead of his closest rival Suarez.
In other matches on Sunday, Levante beat Valladolid 2-0, while Villarreal tied Athletic Bilbao 1-1, Rayo Vijcano with Real Sociedad 2-2.