France, March 8 -- Joan Laporta was elected president of Barcelona on Sunday four days before the club attempts to recover from 4-1 down to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of Champions League.

Laporta, supremo between 2003 and 2010, won 54.28 percentof tthe 51,765 votes cast.Victor Font came secondand Toni Freixa was third.

Star striker and skipper Lionel Messi was among several Barcelona players to vote in the election a day after the side won 2-0 at Osasuna to go second behind Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Laporta's first match of his second spell as president comes on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princesin the second leg of thelast-16 tie against PSG.

Despite Barcelona's4-1 mauling at the Camp Nou, Laporta told his supporters o...