Lionel Messi came off the bench and scored a stunning goal to seal a 2-0 home win for Barcelona over bottom club Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday that stretched their lead at the top of La Liga to 14 points. With an eye on AC Milan's visit in the Champions League on Tuesday, Barca left World Player of the Year Messi and five Spanish internationals out of their starting lineup at the Nou Camp. Chile forward Alexis Sanchez put them in front in the 38th minute when Depor goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia could only palm his powerful downward header into the roof of the net. Spain's record scorer David Villa, still not back to his best after breaking his leg at the end of 2011, had earlier squandered a golden chance and made way for Messi with around half an hour left. The Argentina forward fluffed one effort five minutes from time but made no mistake in the 88th minute when he exchanged passes with Alexis and dinked a delightful chip over the onrushing Aranzubia into the net. It was Messi's 40th La Liga goal of the campaign and a record-extending 17th straight league match he had found the net. Barca went into the game following three defeats in their last four outings in all competitions including a 2-0 reverse in their Champions League last-16, first leg at Milan last month and bitter reverses to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the King's Cup and La Liga. Their return to winning ways and a first clean sheet in 14 games puts them on 71 points from 27 of 38 matches, with second-placed Atletico Madrid on 57 ahead of their home fixture against Real Sociedad on Sunday (2000 GMT). Champions Real Madrid, in third spot two points behind their city rivals and on a high after securing a place in the Champions League quarter-finals, visit relegation-threatened Celta Vigo on Sunday. Malaga were denied a morale-boosting win before Wednesday's Champions League game against Porto when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Real Valladolid earlier on Saturday.## (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sportsand on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)##
