Watch Lionel Messi score in his return from injury with a lovely Neymar assist

It was a long three weeks without Lionel Messi. No dribbling through defenders like they are traffic cones. No perfectly slotted goals.

But as of Saturday, Messi is not only back from injury — it took him just three minutes to score. The Barcelona star made his long-awaited return against Deportivo La Coruna, coming on in the 55th minute and then doing this three minutes later:

This was a great run from Messi to create space, but it's outdone by Neymar's beautiful pass, where he threads the proverbial needle through a sea of Depor defenders. Neymar puts the ball right on Messi's foot, and it's a challenging angle for Messi but La Pulga Atomica smashes an emphatic one-time strike into the net.

To be fair, it's not as if Barcelona were in any kind of trouble by the time Messi came on. They had already taken a comfortable 3-0 lead on goals from Rafinha and Luis Suarez. It's a result that should let Barcelona atone for a very embarrassing loss to Celta Vigo just before the international break.

But seeing Messi return from injury and play without reservations is perhaps the most important takeaway. Messi had to come off injured three weeks against Atletico Madrid due to a groin injury that was aggravated again. He was expected to return for Barcelona's Champions League fixture against Manchester City next week, so to have him coming off the bench ahead of that means his recovery has apparently gone well.

Credit where it is due, though — Rafinha's two opening goals set Barcelona on a winning path, along with Suarez's effort. The Barcelona men looked like they were putting on a clinic:

Very nice.

Barcelona have moved up to the second spot in the La Liga rankings. Up next, they host Manchester City on Wednesday for Champions League.

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