Lionel Messi is off the mark for Barcelona after a comfortable 3-0 win over Elche.
Goals from Messi and teenager Munir El Haddadi ensured Luis Enrique got his era as Barcelona coach off to a winning start as they beat Elche 3-0 on Sunday night.
The Catalans had to play the entire second half with 10 man after Javier Mascherano was sent off, but they had earlier taken the lead through Messi, who also grabbed the third, with exciting 18-year-old forward Munir scoring just after half-time.
Messi needed just one touch to bring the ball under control before sweeping it into the bottom corner with his left foot top open the scoring.
However, Barca were dealt a setback just a minute after scoring, Mascherano sent off for bringing down Garry Rodrigues when he was clean through on goal.
They still doubled their lead when Rakitic played a long ball over the top towards Munir, who waited patiently for it to drop and flicked it into the far corner of the net with a single touch.
But Messi's second goal of the night, arriving a quarter of an hour after Munir's, was the finest move of the night.
The Argentinian attacked down the right and shrugged off four Elche defenders to bring the ball onto his favoured left boot and drive it low into the bottom corner.
