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Messi at the double as Barca come from behind to beat Almeria

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Leo Messi scored two second half goals as Barcelona came back from a goal down to beat bottom of the table Almeria 3-1 in the Spanish soccer league on Saturday.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi (L) fights for the ball against Almeria's goalkeeper Diego Alves during their Spanish first division soccer match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona April 9, 2011. [Xinhua]

The league leaders had to work harder than expected to beat a motivated Almeria side who had briefly threatened an upset as Miguel Angel Corona put them ahead early in the half.

However, a Messi penalty a minute later leveled the score and once Thiago Alcantara had put them ahead, Barca rarely looked to be in tuouble.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said before the game that he was worried that he knew little or nothing about the style of football Almeria would practice under new coach Roberto Olabe.

As the result he took few chances other than leaving David Villa on the substitutes' bench as Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Messi were all in the starting 11.

Anyone expecting Almeria to sit deep from the start was in for a surprise as the visitors forced a series of corners in the opening minutes as Barcelona failed to find their passing game.

Iniesta shot wide after 25 minutes as the home side began to find their way and force Almeria deeper and deeper. The Catalans enjoyed 80 percent of the possession as the half progressed, but with Almeria working hard and sitting deeper and deeper, spaces were hard to wind.

Guardiola's side suffered a setback after 30 minutes when Bojan Krkic was forced out of the match after a challenge from Marcelo Silva and was replaced by Villa.

The second half began dreadfully for Barcelona as Villa saw a shot rebound off the post after 48 minutes and Almeria the scoring a minute later as Corona finished off a fast counter-attack.

Almeria's lead lasted a minute as Diego Alves brought Villa down to concede a penalty which Messi tucked away.

Thiago Alcantara then climbed well to head Barcelona ahead from a corner 10 minutes later and Barcelona again took control of the game. However, the Catalans were unable to add a third goal and had a couple of nervous moments until injury time when Messi robbed Silva at the edge of the Almeria area and chipped the ball over Alves.

Barcelona travel to Madrid next week with an eight points lead at the top of the table.

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