Super-sub Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up another to help Barcelona earn a thrilling 3-2 win at Real Betis in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Francisco Trincao clinched the win in the final minutes with his first goal for the club.
Coach Ronald Koeman gave Messi and other regular starters some extra rest ahead of the Copa del Rey semifinals at Sevilla, but he sent his star on in the 57th minute with his team losing after a toothless first half.
Messi only needed a few touches of the ball to cancel out Borja Iglesias opener with a shot just inside the area.
Messi helped to put Barcelona in front in the 68th after a well-orchestrated attack that ended with an own-goal by Betis Victor Ruiz.
Ruiz made up for his error by heading home a goal to make it 2-2 in the 75th.
But with Barcelona facing a setback in the title race, substitute Trinco recovered a ball from Ruiz and fired a long strike off the goalframe and into the net for the 87th-minute winner.
Barcelona's sixth league win in a row lifted it back into second place at seven points behind Atletico Madrid, which has two more games to play.