Lionel Messi hits super strike as Barcelona seal friendly win over Girona – in pictures

Argentine hits double, including superb finish from outside the box, to secure his first goals since threatening to leave the club

Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi, right, under pressure from Girona's Jairo Izquierdo during their pre-season friendly at the Johan Cruyff Stadium. Barca won the match 3-1. AP

Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho skips past a challenge. AFP

Barcelona's Lionel Messi in possession against Girona. AP

Lionel Messi scores Barca's third goal. Reuters

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique tackles Jonas Ramalho of Girona. Getty

Lionel Messi celebrates with teammates after scoring Barca's third goal. Getty

Barca's Frankie de Jong is challenged by Valery Fernandez of Girona. Getty

Barcelona's Lionel Messi after scoring their second. Reuters

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal with Sergio Busquets. Reuters

Lionel Messi during the friendly. AFP

New manager Ronald Koeman looks on during the friendly. AFP

Lionel Messi turns away from Girona's Samu Saiz. Getty

Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele, left, and Joel Priego of Girona. Reuters

Three Girona players try to stop Lionel Messi. Reuters

Barcelona's Lionel Messi shoots at goal from a free kick. Reuters

Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann shoots at goal. Reuters

Lionel Messi scores Barcelona's second goal. Getty

Lionel Messi under peressure from Girona midfielder Jairo Izquierdo. AFP

Lionel Messi shakes hands with manager Ronald Koeman as the Argentine is substituted. Reuters

Lionel Messi after being substituted. Reuters

Lionel Messi was back in the usual routine for Barcelona as he scored twice in a 3-1 friendly win over Girona on Wednesday.

Philippe Coutinho struck the crossbar early on before giving Barca the lead midway through the first half, tapping into an empty net after excellent link play between Messi and new signing Francisco Trincao.

Five minutes before half-time, a Coutinho run and finish almost doubled Barca’s tally, Juan Carlos parrying the shot away from goal. A one-handed save also stopped Messi from netting from a free-kick.

But the Argentine was not to be denied. He doubled Barca's advantage right on half-time, spinning away from a defender before thumping a brilliant shot in off the post from outside the penalty area to score for the first time since threatening to leave the club last month.

Samu Saiz scored for Girona right at the start of the second period but Barca's captain struck again in the 50th minute, again cutting inside to shoot from outside the area but this time benefiting from a heavy deflection.

New manager Ronald Koeman made four changes to the line-up that had beaten Gimnastic de Tarragona 3-1 in his first friendly game on Saturday and made nine substitutions midway through the second half at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, only keeping on defender Ronald Araujo and goalkeeper Neto.

This was a better display than against Gimnastic, with Messi looking much sharper, causing the opposition problems throughout.

Teenager Pedri was Barca's liveliest substitute and had three attempts on goal after coming on, forcing Carlos to make two smart saves, while American forward Konrad de la Fuente also impressed.

Watching the game from the stands was Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, whose position is under significant threat as a motion to trigger a no-confidence motion in his reign has surpassed 90 per cent of its target.

The role of Bartomeu at Barca has come under great scrutiny in recent times following a trophyless campaign combined with Messi’s attempted forced exit from the club, which the board blocked.

Earlier on Wednesday, La Liga president Javier Tebas said he was pleased Messi had stayed at Barcelona.

"Messi is important for our competition," said Tebas, at an event to promote the Liga sticker collection. "He is a player who was born in our competition ... and hopefully he will finish his career in our league."

Barca play promoted La Liga side Elche in their final pre-season game on Saturday before beginning their La Liga campaign the following weekend at home to Villarreal.