Barcelona needs late penalty to beat lowly Leganes 2-1 as pressure on Luis Enrique builds

Late in the first half of Barcelona’s unflattering 2-1 win over Leganes on Sunday, some of the home fans verbalized their support for the defending Spanish champions’ increasingly embattled manager Luis Enrique. Others expressed their belief that the club might be better off led by some other man.

The fan base is understandably conflicted. Two seasons ago, in Lucho’s first campaign in charge, Barca won the treble – La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. Last year, it repeated as the Spanish league and cup champions. But this season, Barcelona is a long shot to win the league and an even longer one to even reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

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The Catalans will likely win the Copa del Rey final over Alaves in late May. But Real Madrid holds the league lead and has two games in hand, making for a hypothetical lead of seven points. In Europe, meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-0 hammering of Barca in the first leg of their round of 16 joust on Tuesday was so resounding that there’s surely no coming back from it.

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In February, the season is looking lost for Barca. By its own dynastic standards, anyway. And so people have begun wondering if the club’s cycle of dominance, which has lasted the better part of a decade, is coming to an end.

It seemed on Sunday like the club’s star attackers were quickly rebutting that argument, scoring an early goal in their signature speed and style.

In just the fourth minute, Neymar played Luis Suarez through the line up the left. He took a quick glance over to his right and saw Lionel Messi running away from the Leganes defense. With a touch to settle the ball and another to play it across with the outside of his boot, he had dished Messi the opener on a silver platter. And Messi, as a rule, doesn’t miss open goals from a few feet out.

Surely, newly-promoted and 17th-placed Leganes, would be put away swiftly. But for the remainder of the first half, little Leganes would be the more dangerous side. In the 17th minute, a mighty double-save from Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen denied Nabil El Zhar. First, when they faced off one-on-one and then when El Zhar drove his second shot low and only just within Ter Stegen’s reach.

Seconds before halftime, El Zhar again came close. His half-volley took a big deflection off Samuel Umtiti, wrong-footing Ter Stegen. But the German goalkeeper’s cat-like reflex, flipping around mid-save and parrying to his other side, preserved the lead.

In the second half, Barca convinced as rarely as it did in the first. As so often in this troubled season, the passing was out of sync and the midfield leaky, exposing what has been an underwhelming defense for several years.

In the 55th minute, Umtiti headed a ball backwards at his own goal for Miguel Angel Guerrero to latch onto, necessitating yet another massive Ter Stegen save. Barcelona then twice came close to getting an insurance goal. But Neymar and Rafinha were both denied by goalkeeper Iago Herrerin.

Leganes equalized in the 71st minute, after it was denied a credible penalty shout. Sergi Roberto let himself be robbed of the ball in his own third. Darwin Machis ran off with it and cut back for Unai Lopez, who fooled Ter Stegen. For the first time all night, he perhaps could have done better.

Neymar would give his side a respite, though, as he danced through the Leganes box in the 88th minute and earned a penalty – where Leganes had been denied one of similar credibility – when he was brought down by Martin Mantovani. Messi converted the winner with a blasted shot, but he took no joy in it. He understood that all was not well. And El Zhar’s injury-time shot, which whistled just inches wide of the goal, drove home just how close the call had been.

It was very nearly the sixth time in 12 league games that Barca had to settle for a tie. Even though that was avoided, it has still dropped precious points with far too much regularity to really compete for the title.

It is a plain truth that Barcelona’s front line – the best ever assembled in the history of the sport – has been masking shortcomings elsewhere for a long time. But this season, when the forwards’ form has been less than unimpeachable – with Neymar in particular going off the boil for months at a time – and the service from the midfield becoming less reliable, the whole thing has looked fragile.

Barca still has as much talent as anybody out there. But the execution has been flawed all too often. Maybe that’s a coaching problem. Maybe it isn’t. Luis Enrique might recover from a down year. Or perhaps his departure could stop the rot in its tracks and address issues.

Either way, against an unintimidating opponent – to wit: Leganes is nicknamed “the cucumber growers” – Barcelona hardly indicated that it had cast off the ghosts of the hammering it took in Paris. And until it does, the questions over the club’s manager will persist.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.