Barcelona squandered a two-goal lead from goals by Lionel Messi and Neymar to stumble to a 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday, letting Real Madrid pull within two points of the La Liga leader.
Messi and Neymar both scored stunning strikes to give Barcelona a commanding advantage just after the half-hour mark at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
However, Ever Banega pulled one back against the run of play in the 38th minute, and substitute Kevin Gameiro capped a counterattack with six minutes to play to keep Sevilla undefeated at home in 32 straight games. Sevilla tightened the title race with seven rounds remaining while moving level on points with fourth-placed Valencia.
“We were clearly the better side in the first half, playing great football and controlling the match,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “It’s a shame that in three minutes they unsettled us and reduced the deficit. That goal changed the game. The second half was more even and both sides had options to win. Then we made a mistake and paid for it.”
Luis Enrique could not have asked for a better start, with Barcelona scoring and their possession-based style defusing Sevilla’s up-tempo attack.
Messi seemed to be well defended as he dribbled into the area from the right side in the 14th minute, but one quick touch later he had the angle he needed to use his left boot to curl a strike around goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
Neymar soon followed in the 31st minute with his first goal in eight games. His strike was just as silky smooth as he bent a free-kick from the left edge of the area just over the top of the wall and so close to the near post that Rico made no move to stop it.
Barcelona looked close to getting a third goal until Banega fired a blistering strike from long range that goalkeeper Claudio Bravo could only push off his post and into the net.
While Messi and Neymar shone, Luis Suarez missed three clear chances to add to their goals. The best came in the 50th minute when he sailed a shot over the bar after Andres Iniesta had drawn Rico off his line.
The match then tilted in Sevilla’s favor after coach Unai Emery made all three substitutions midway through the second half. Substitute Jose Antonio Reyes started the decisive counterattack that ended with Aleix Vidal crossing for Gameiro to redirect the ball home and ignite the crowd.
Cristiano Ronaldo made sure Real kept the pressure on the pacesetters earlier on Saturday by scoring his league-leading 38th goal in a 3-0 win at home over Sociedad Deportiva Eibar.
However, he was outdone by RC Celta de Vigo’s 19-year-old Santi Mina, who found the net four times in a 6-1 demolition of Rayo Vallecano de Madrid as his team moved into ninth position.
Third-placed Atletico Madrid also dropped two points at Malaga in a 2-2 draw, three days before the defending league champions host Real in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Near the bottom of the standings, UD Almeria ended an eight-game winless run by beating fellow strugglers Granada 3-0 for its first win under new coach Sergi Barjuan.
Ronaldo scored a bouncing free-kick that goalkeeper Xabi Irureta could have done more to keep out in the 21st minute.
Javier Hernandez doubled the lead in the 31st minute, and Jese Rodriguez capped the one-sided match in the 83rd minute.
Atletico needed Antoine Griezmann to salvage a point by scoring his 17th and 18th league goals of the campaign. Atletico’s draw kept them in third place, now seven points behind Madrid.
Griezmann got his first goal in the 25th minute when Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni spilled a throw-in, but fortune swung Malaga’s way in the 37th minute when Atletico’s Fernando Torres scored an own goal.
Samuel Garcia chipped goalkeeper Jan Oblak to put Malaga ahead in the 71st minute, only for Griezmann to fire in his second goal 12 minutes from the final whistle.
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