The penalty came after the ball seemed to strike the arm of a Real Sociedad defender after another Barcelona attack.

Initially, the referee waved away Barcelona’s appeals for a penalty solely to be contacted through the VAR official for a overview of the incident.

Before the goal, it had been a irritating first half for Barcelona however they stepped up the tempo in the 2nd half with probabilities coming thick and fast.

Messi had already gone close on a couple of ocassions and there have been additionally chances for Pique and Griezmann.

However, the goal for Messi was richly deserved as he appears to be regaining the fluency and form which was once so lack in last week’s El Classico defeat to Real Madrid

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