Despite earlier speculations about his return, FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was still sidelined during his team's La Liga clash against Real Betis on Sunday night. However, despite his absence, Antoine Griezmann and the team's youngsters were able to show off their skills in a 5-2 victory.

Griezmann was signed from Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid during the summer transfer window. Many fans are eager to see him play alongside Messi, but they will have to satisfy themselves with the Frenchman's own skills for now. He managed to score a brace on Sunday night, his first two goals for the Blaugrana.

With Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele all injured, Griezmann had a big weight resting on his shoulders. However, the World Cup winner didn't disappoint the Camp Nou. He scored two goals and provided Arturo Vidal with an assist. Overall, he was directly involved in 3 out of Barcelona's 5 goals.

Antoine Griezmann

Meanwhile, it wasn't just Griezmann who was having a dream debut. Academy player Ansu Fati also made his debut appearance for the first team. At only 16 years, 9 months and 25 days old, Fati is the second youngest player to ever debut for Barcelona's first team. Both he and Carles Perez impressed Messi.

After the victory, the captain took to social media to congratulate the young guns. "Great performance from everyone. First three points in La Liga and really happy to see our academy players achieve their dream of making the first team and scoring in a competitive game at the Camp Nou," he said.

The victory marks the first three points for Barcelona's La Liga season. It may be remembered that they lost their opening match against Athletic Bilbao. Betis meanwhile, are still looking forward to their first points of the season. Betis coach Rubi jokingly said before that match that he hoped Messi would not be able to play due to a cold. The Argentine star missed the match while recovering from a calf injury, but his absence didn't translate to a win for Betis.

Lionel Messi