Barcelona’s impressive run of league wins stopped at nine as Getafe snatched a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou on Sunday as the league leaders allowed champions Real Madrid to make up ground in the title race.
Barca are now three points ahead of Real at the top and it could have been just two had Mali international Seydou Keita not weighed in with a 71st-minute equalizer to cancel out Manu del Moral’s opener.
Moral curled in a 19th minute goal to shock the home crowd, who were hoping for a 10th straight league win, and Barca looked to be heading for their first home defeat of the season.
PHOTO: AFP
But former Sevilla teammates Dani Alves and Keita, who joined Barca in the summer, combined for an equalizer and both Samuel Eto’o and Gerard Pique hit the crossbar for the hosts.
“Perhaps we missed that cutting edge and the final ball, but we dominated the match especially in the second half,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “I want to thank everyone who came to the ground for applauding us at the end. You can’t deceive the fans and the day we don’t play well they won’t applaud.”
The absence of Argentine Lionel Messi through a thigh strain did not help Barca’s cause and it is uncertain whether he will be fit for tomorrow’s Champions League match at Sporting Lisbon.
“He is a special player that is key for us, but I have others,” Guardiola said.
Barcelona have already qualified for the knockout stages, but are keen to go through as group winners.
Earlier, a stoppage time penalty from Jose Barkero left Atletico Madrid frustrated as the capital club dropped two vital points in a 1-1 draw at Numancia.
Atletico were poised to close to within four points of Valencia and Sevilla, fifth and sixth respectively, after a sixth goal of the season from Uruguayan international Diego Forlan, but Mariano Pernia gave away a late penalty and Barkero cooly slotted home.
Atletico’s rivals Villarreal, Sevilla and Valencia had dropped valuable points, but the draw means they failed to capitalize and Javier Aguirre’s team stay six points off fifth-placed Sevilla.
The Champions League is next for Atletico tomorrow, with Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven the opponents.
Atletico are joint top of Champions League group D with Liverpool on eight points, but the home match against PSV will be played behind closed doors as UEFA punished Atletico for crowd trouble in their group match against Marseille at the Vicente Calderon.
Elsewhere, Osasuna coach Jose Antonio Camacho reached a milestone with his 600th league match as a coach and celebrated it with a 3-1 victory as his side won for the first time this season.
Almeria took an early lead, but were handicapped by playing with 10 men from the eighth minute and Camacho’s side took advantage to climb off the foot of the table.
Spanish La Liga
Team P GD PTS
1 Barcelona 12 28 29
2 Real Madrid 12 12 26
3 Villareal 12 7 25
4 Valencia 12 13 24
5 Sevilla 12 10 24
6 Atletico Madrid 12 6 18
7 Deportivo La Coruna 12 -1 18
8 Real Betis 12 3 17
9 Valladolid 12 -4 16
10 Racing Santander 12 -1 15
11 Malaga 12 -4 15
12 Almeria 12 -6 15
13 Sporting Gijon 12 -7 15
14 Getafe 12 -4 14
15 Mallorca 12 -5 13
16 Espanyol 12 -8 12
17 Numancia 12 -10 11
18 Athletic Bilbao 12 -10 9
19 Osasuna 12 -6 8
20 Recreativo Huelva 12 -13 7
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