Barcelona must wait another week to clinch the Spanish title after Jose Llorente scored a dramatic 90th-minute equalizer as Villarreal gatecrashed the party with a 3-3 draw at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Barcelona were on course to win their 19th title in front of their fans when they held a 3-1 lead, but Villarreal scored twice in the final 12 minutes to put the celebrations on hold.
Barcelona need just one point from the final three matches, with the next league match at Real Mallorca, to win their first league title since 2006.
PHOTO: AP
Real Madrid’s 3-0 defeat at Valencia on Saturday meant Barcelona could have won the title in front of their own fans and they came so close.
“It is a real shame we couldn’t celebrate the title with all the people who came to the stadium today,” admitted Barca coach Pep Guardiola. “We did the same thing [scoring a late goal] at Stamford Bridge [in the Champions League semi-final] with [Andres] Iniesta and today it was Llorente.”
“We have to pick ourselves up quickly, put a smile on our faces and prepare for the Kings Cup final on Wednesday,” he said.
A 28th goal of the season from Samuel Eto’o and a Dani Alves free-kick built on Seydou Keita’s opener as Barcelona held a 3-1 advantage at half-time.
However, Eric Abidal was sent off for Barcelona late on after conceding a penalty which Matias Fernandez converted and the hosts were hit with the sucker punch in stoppage time as Llorente scored his second goal.
Barcelona fans were understandably disappointed and must now wait for the title while the players need to concentrate on tomorrow’s Kings Cup final against Athletic Bilbao at the Mestalla Stadium.
Andres Iniesta will miss the game after suffering an injury to his right thigh and Barcelona will hope it is not serious enough to rule him out of the Champions League final against Manchester United on May 27.
The Barca players were on a high after thumping Real 6-2 last Saturday and then edging past Chelsea in their Champions League semi-final and Guardiola resisted the temptation to rest stars for the domestic cup final.
Barca got off to a flying start when Keita saw his deflected shot loop in on 12 minutes.
Villarreal, still without injured captain Marcos Senna, equalized through Llorente on 22 minutes after Yaya Toure lost possession.
Eto’o restored Barcelona’s lead after 36 minutes and Alves, suspended for the Champions League final, curled in a free-kick seconds before half-time to make it 3-1.
Frenchman Abidal was sent off for the second time in a week, after being dismissed against Chelsea, for giving away a spot-kick and Fernandez converted to ensure a tense final 12 minutes.
Llorente then took advantage of the nerves to equalize and spoil the party.
Barca now have 103 goals for the season and are just four from equalling Real’s all-time record of 107 set back in 1990.
The champions-elect have amassed 86 points and have three games to try to overtake Real’s all-time points record of 92 set back in 1997, although there were 42 games then instead of the current 38.
For Villarreal the point leaves them three points adrift of fourth-placed Valencia in the Champions League race.
Atletico Madrid moved a point behind Valencia with a 3-2 comeback win over Espanyol with Villarreal old boy Diego Forlan scoring a sensational 90th minute winner.
Atletico had been reduced to 10 men with the dismissal of Luis Perea and trailed 2-0, but came storming back with Kun Aguero scoring and Forlan grabbing a brace to take his season’s tally to 27.
Valencia and Atletico face each other next weekend at the Vicente Calderon in a Champions League decider.
Espanyol saw their run of four straight wins come to an end and they are not safe yet lying four points above the drop zone.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS