Barcelona may have got back to winning ways on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Leganes in La Liga but they were far from convincing.

Fresh from their 4-0 thrashing in Paris last week, Luis Enrique's men could ill-afford another bad result to fall further behind Real Madrid in the table.

And they came very close to losing ground on their bitter rivals had Lionel Messi not bailed them out with an 89th-minute penalty.

Not for the first time this season, Messi earned the three points for his side by calmly dispatching the spot kick into the top left corner (skip to 8:00 in the video below) but you'd never guess it judging on his celebration.

The Argentine's muted reaction surprised quite a few given just how late it was in the game.

However, his first goal of the match - scored in the 3rd minute - was also followed by a similarly low-key celebration (0:30 in the video), suggesting he wasn't entirely happy.

Some had speculated Messi's lack of joy was just a natural reaction to his side's disappointing display against a struggling Leganes, however, his national team boss thinks otherwise.

Messi was among a number of Barca stars to receive heavy criticism for their performance during the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and Edgardo Bauza believes his star man's subdued celebration on Sunday was a message to the media.

'I think he reacted to the criticism he may have received after PSG," Bauza told radio show, Joga Bonito, as per FourFourTwo.

"I noticed he was very angry when he scored the goals."

Perhaps it is proof that scrutiny can affect even the best of us.

It comes just a couple of days after Messi was linked with a huge £100m million move to Manchester City.

Of course, at this stage that still looks extremely unlikely but perhaps it isn't totally beyond the realms of possibility if Messi's on-pitch mood doesn't improve soon.

The 29-year-old had less than 18 months to run on his current contract at the Camp Nou and there are concerns the club will be unable to match his wage demands.

It does seem a bit ridiculous that Messi is actually being judged on how he celebrates scoring, though.

As someone who has found the back of the net almost 500 times, is it really surprising he doesn't share the same delight after each goal?

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