MADRID: Lionel Messi started and played 45 minutes in Barcelona’s first pre-season friendly on Saturday as Ronald Koeman showed no hesitation in reintegrating the Argentinian.

Barca beat third tier side Gimnastic Tarragona 3-1, with Ousmane Dembele opening the scoring on his first appearance since November.

Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho, who was also returning after his loan spell at Bayern Munich, then each scored penalties, either side of Javier Bonilla pulling one back for the visitors.

But Messi’s return at the Johan Cruyff Stadium was perhaps the biggest plus for Koeman, who was taking charge of his first game since being appointed coach last month.

Messi also led the team out wearing the armband after Barcelona had confirmed earlier on Saturday that he will continue as captain this season.

Both club and player appear keen to put on a united front, at least for now, ahead of their return to La Liga later this month.

After condemning the board last week and admitting he had been forced to stay, Messi arrived early on Monday for his return to pre-season training and worked on the squad’s days off in a bid to catch up.

He played 45 minutes as part of Koeman’s plan to field two different line-ups in each half.

Barca will not play their first La Liga game against Villarreal until round three at the end of the month, having been granted extra time off due to their involvement in last season’s Champions League.

Reigning champions Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are also sitting out the first weekend.

But with La Liga’s top players resting, a new arrival to the top flight didn’t waste his chance to shine on opening day.

MILLA SHINES FOR GRANADA

Luis Milla scored from a wonderful solo effort on his first-division debut for Granada on Saturday. The midfielder intercepted a pass, dribbled to the edge of the area, and blasted a strike in off the post to ensure a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao at home.

Venezuelan midfielder Yangel Herrera put Granada ahead early in the second half with a glancing header as they picked up where they left off last season.

Granada had thrashed Athletic 4-0 at home in their final game of last season to finish seventh in the standings and qualify for European competition for the first time in their history.

The match was supposed to be the league’s opening game on Friday but less than 48 hours before kick off it was switched to Saturday after the Spanish football federation ruled matches could not be played on Fridays or Mondays.

Eibar’s game with Celta started the season instead. Celta looked the more likely side to score but were thwarted by Eibar’s goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, while the home side had midfielder Pape Diop sent off late on for a second booking.

PROMOTED CADIZ LOSE TO OSASUNA

The new season started less than two months after the 2020-21 campaign concluded after it was delayed for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Like the end of last season, stadiums reopened without spectators to ensure games don’t become a source of mass contagion. Spain has recorded more than 29,700 confirmed deaths with Covid-19.

Elsewhere, Cadiz’s return to the top flight after 14 years was spoiled by a 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna.

Adrian López got the visitors going in the 10th when Oier Sanjurjo played him clear after recovering the ball.

Ruben García took Osasuna’s second goal after he fended off his marker to win a throw-in and score with an acrobatic kick.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2020