Barcelona will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on La Liga’s title after a last-minute strike from Ander Herrera saw them held to a 2-2 draw by Athletic Bilbao.
The visitors were out of sorts for an hour at San Mames and deservedly trailed to Markel Susaeta’s first-half goal, but the introduction of substitute Lionel Messi swung the match as he scored one and teed up another for Alexis Sanchez. And it looked like the points would go back to Barcelona until Herrera popped up to snatch a point for Bilbao. Although Barça remain the runaway leaders, this result means they cannot seal the title this weekend
Real Madrid came from behind to beat local rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 and maintain their dominance over their local rivals.
Jose Mourinho’s team of reserves produced an uninspiring performance and struggled for large parts of the game, but they made the most of their chances. Radamel Falcao gave the hosts an early lead, but an own goal by Juanfran levelled things up a few minutes later and Angel Di Maria hit the winning goal midway through the second half.
The result sees Real cut the gap on leaders Barcelona, held to a 2-2 draw by Athletic Bilbao, to 11 points with five games remaining, while they are now six points clear of Atletico in the battle for second place.
Elsewhere, Celta Vigo improved their chances of avoiding the drop with a slender win against mid-table Levante thanks to Augusto Fernandez’s first-half effort. Real Zaragoza moved up to 18th with a late 3-2 victory against Mallorca, while Osasuna also eased their relegation fears with a 2-2 draw against Rayo Vallecano on Friday night.
