Messi strikes late to down tough Alaves

Barcelona escaped a scare on Philippe Coutinho's first start as Lionel Messi struck with a trademark free-kick to drag the La Liga leaders back from a goal down to beat Alaves 2-1 and restore their 11-point lead at the top. Messi whipped home a beautiful free-kick six minutes from the end to down resilient Alaves, who are just two points from the drop zone in 17th despite John Guidetti silencing the Camp Nou with a shock breakaway opener in the 23rd minute. Luis Suarez had broken the away side's tough resistence with a sweet volley from Andres Iniesta's cross 18 minutes from the end, setting the stage for Messi's dramatic and stylish winner. The Argentine's strike ensures that Barca stay unbeaten in the league, and keeps Atletico Madrid 11 points back despite their 3-0 hammering of Las Palmas earlier.

Still unbeaten in @LaLiga ✅ Still ? ✅ Still 1️⃣1️⃣ points clear! ✅ ?? #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/CoyASaEa6u

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 28, 2018

Barca coach Ernesto Valverdes said he was happy with Coutinho who had started Thursday's Copa del Rey clash with Valencia on the bench before making a second-half appearance. "Players are not machines who can fit in at once, like a new part," said Valverde.

? 2009/2010 (Guardiola) ? 2017/2018 (Valverde)@FCBarcelona have gone 21 games unbeaten from the start of the season in #LaLiga, equalling their club record! ? pic.twitter.com/hNOQEng8Wx

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) January 28, 2018

"He did well, he wanted the ball. This is one more step for him. The other day, he played 25 minutes, this time a little more, he will integrate little by little."

Ernesto Valverde has a message for the critics: Philippe Coutinho isn't a machine! pic.twitter.com/0KHbngS6zy

— Goal (@goal) January 29, 2018

With Diego Costa out injured, Atletico took a while to get going and had to wait until the 61st minute to open the scoring, Antoine Griezmann latching on to Juanfran's fine ball down the right flank before dinking neatly over Las Palmas stopper Leandro Chichizola. "The first half was not very good but the coach gave us a good talking to at half-time, and we responded well," said Griezmann, whose goal was just his seventh in the league this season but his fourth in league and cup since the turn of the year. "I feel good, I've started the year well and I hope to continue the goals and assists."

Antoine Griezmann in Atletico Madrid's last three games:

Girona ⚽️ Sevilla ⚽️ Las Palmas ⚽️ Solid form. ? pic.twitter.com/w2EuU6OCq1— Goal (@goal) January 29, 2018

Frenchman Griezmann started the move that led to Atletico's second, intercepting a loose pass and setting Angel Correa free to scamper down the pitch and feed Fernando Torres, who shifted the ball onto his right foot and lashed home just his second goal of the season, the 600th scored by Atletico in all competitions during Diego Simeone's seven-year reign as coach. An easy tap-in from Thomas Partey after great work from Yannick Carrasco two minutes from time completed the second-half rout of a desperate Las Palmas, who remain second from bottom and five points from safety.

Ghanaian @Thomaspartey22 has scored 5 goals with only 5 shots on target for @atletienglish this season (all comps)! ⚽? ?? pic.twitter.com/8xqUVLlBFP

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) January 29, 2018

Sevilla were denied the chance to close within three points of Real Madrid and the Champions league places after Angel Rodriguez scored a controversial equaliser deep in stoppage time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Getafe at the Roman Sanchez Pizjaun stadium. Luis Muriel had slid in a 72nd-minute opener for hosts but with seconds to spare Juan Cala challenged Sevilla keeper Sergio Rico for a hopeful high ball, and with the Sevilla fans and players clamouring for a free-kick, Angel lashed home the leveller and celebrated under a hail of whistles and boos.RESULTS:Sevilla 1 (Muriel 72) Getafe 1 (Angel 90+3)Atletico Madrid 3 (Griezmann 61, Torres 73, Thomas 88) Las Palmas 0Leganes 3 (Mario Hermoso 10-og, 82-og, Guerrero 69) Espanyol 2 (Marc Navarro 49, Mario Hermoso 88)Barcelona 2 (Suarez 72, Messi 84) Alaves 1 (Guidetti 23)La Liga table after Sunday's late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):Barcelona           21 18   3  0  59 10 57Atletico Madrid     21 13   7  1  32  9 46Valencia            21 12   4  5  42 25 40Real Madrid         20 11   5  4  43 19 38Villarreal          21 11   4  6  32 24 37Sevilla             21 10   3  8  27 29 33Eibar               21  8   5  8  26 33 29Celta Vigo          20  8   4  8  35 28 28Getafe              21  7   7  7  26 26 28Girona              21  7   7  7  29 29 28Leganes             20  8   4  8  20 21 28Athletic Bilbao     21  6   9  6  24 23 27Real Betis          20  8   3  9  33 41 27Espanyol            21  6   6  9  18 28 24Real Sociedad       21  6   5 10  36 40 23Levante             21  3  10  8  18 30 19Alaves              21  6   1 14  17 31 19Deportivo La Coruna 21  4   5 12  24 46 17Las Palmas          21  4   2 15  16 50 14Malaga              21  3   4 14  14 34 13