For 88 minutes, it looked as though Barcelona would lose their first La Liga match of the season against Sevilla on Saturday night.

With Lionel Messi on the bench due to a hamstring problem, Ernesto Valverde's side found themselves 2-0 down with just minutes remaining.

Franco Vazquez had opened the scoring for the home side, while Luis Muriel doubled their lead shortly into the second-half.

Minutes later, Messi was introduced.

However, it didn’t look as though the Argentine would have much of an impact.

But this is Messi we're talking about.

Luis Suarez got Barca back in the match with an acrobatic finish from a corner before Messi himself equalised brilliantly just moments later.

MESSI WAS UNDER STRICT INSTRUCTIONS

It was an incredible 35-minute cameo from the superstar.

But what makes it even more incredible is the two instructions Messi had before entering the fray.

According to Spanish outlet AS, the 30-year-old had two clear instructions. They claim Messi was told “to avoid long sprints, and to avoid sudden changes of pace.”

Imagine having those limitations and still producing the magic that Messi did.

Incredible.

So much of Messi’s game is about those “sudden changes of pace” to get himself away from defenders and you could see that he was hesitant to do too much with the ball.

He often played a simple pass whenever he was in possession, rather than try and be a hero.

As it turned out, he was still the hero thanks to his beautiful equaliser.

Whether or not he’ll be fully fit for Barcelona’s Champions League clash against Roma on Wednesday remains to be seen.

A half-fit Messi playing within himself is still a world-class footballer, mind.