The return of Leo Messi proved providential tonight for Barça who saw off a disappointing Lyon. An own goal from Clerc, one from Messi and then a  first goal from Thierry Henry in injury time gave Barça an important victory after all the criticism for the performance against Osasuna on Sunday. Barça were in control from the beginning. The first chance came after six minutes when Ronaldinho combined well with Eric Abidal down the left, Abidal put in a hard low cross and Thierry Henry was inches away from getting a touch. Shots followed from Toure, Deco and Ronaldinho without luck. In the seventeenth minute good work from Messi and Henry set up Ronaldinho with a good chance but instead of shooting Ronnie tried to run into the area only to be tackled as he was about to shoot.

The opening goal came four minutes later. Ronaldinho gave the ball to Messi and the Argentinian beat a defender to get into the area and his low cross was turned into his own net by Lyon defender Clerc. Lyon didn’t create anything of note until the 31st minute when a corner was flicked on, but Zambrotta blocked superbly when the shot came in at the far post.

In the 37th minute Messi should have made it 2-0 when Ronaldinho found him inside the area, Messi cut inside and placed his shot past the keeper but Clerc made up for his own goal with a last ditch goal line clearance.

In the second minute of the second half, Messi had another great chance after a great build up involving Ronaldinho and Xavi, but his attempted lob over the keeper went well over the crossbar. Barça continued to dominate but the second goal wouldn’t come. After 65 minutes Iniesta came on for Ronaldinho and immediately made an impact. Why he wasn’t in the starting line-up is anyone’s guess.

Thierry Henry, who played most of the game in the centre forward position, had his first decent chance on 69 minutes when Xavi set him up, but his low right footed shot was well saved by the keeper. Two minutes later Henry was booked for shooting after the ref had blown for offside. It was perhaps a sign of frustration as he was finding it difficult again to get into the game.

Deco then had a chance after a move involving Iniesta and Henry, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper’s foot. Giovani dos Santos came on in place of Xavi with twelve minutes remaining. Lyon were tiring and Barça took full advantage. In the 82nd minute Deco played a one-two with Giovani and then passed to Iniesta who ran into the left side of the penalty area before squaring to Messi whose first time shot beat the keeper to his left to make it 2-0. It was nice to see Frank Rijkaard’s reaction to the goal, maybe he does have some passion afterall.

Bojan was brought on for the last few minutes in place of Messi who received a standing ovation from Camp Nou. The icing on the cake came in injury time when Giovani making the most of poor defending, cut inside and shot, the keeper couldn’t hold it and Henry was there to score his first competitive goal for Barça.

Lyon offered very little, there was no sign of top scorer Benzema, and Juninho had three free kicks from distance, but one went way over, and the other two went staight at the wall.

Barça were a big improvement on Sunday’s game. Especially encouraging was the performance of the defence. Marquez and Milito were both impressive and Valdés did not have a save to make apart from dealing with a couple of awkward crosses. Messi caused a lot of problems and if his finishing had been better he might have had a hat-trick. Henry looked better playing in the middle but has still not found his true form, hopefully the goal will give him confidence.

Here’s a link to see the goals http://youtube.com/watch?v=xUOQSpzrPhI

Barça: Valdés 6; Zambrotta 6, Márquez 7.5, Milito 7.5, Abidal 7, Touré Yayá 6.5, Deco 5.5, Xavi 7 (Giovani dos Santos, m.79, 6.5), Ronaldinho 6 (Iniesta, m.65, 7.5), Messi 8 (Bojan Krkic, m. 88, -), Henry 6.

Yellow Cards: Toure, Henry.

Attendance 76,689