On Sunday, four more matches of the 17th round were played in the Spanish "La Liga" championship.
"Villarreal" faced off against "Barcelona" in front of their home crowd. Luis Enrique continued his lackluster start to 2017 - only in the dying moments of the match the score was leveled 1-1.
From the very first minutes of the match, both teams showed a high tempo. "Barcelona" had more possession of the ball, but the "Yellow Submarine" was active during counterattacks.
In the first 45 minutes, neither team managed to score, and the spectators did not see any clear-cut chances. The second half was much more intense.
The second half started well for "Villarreal" - after a great counterattack and a good pass from Alexandre Pato, Nicola Sansone sent the ball into the opponent's goal with a precise shot.
After conceding a goal, Barcelona pushed forward and their attacks became more threatening. Lionel Messi and Neymar had great chances, but Sergio Asenjo saved all the shots.
The match became even more intense when Barcelona players protested to the referee. The match referee did not notice two handball incidents by "Villarreal" players in the penalty area, but the handball was not detected in Barcelona's penalty area.
L. Enrique's players did not want to give up until the very end of the match, until finally Lionel Messi showed his class. In the 90th minute, the Argentine scored the equalizer from a stunning penalty kick.
Playing with a draw, Barcelona not only fell behind the leader but also lost the second position to "Sevilla." The Catalans are 5 points behind Madrid's "Real" club, who still have a game in hand.
Other matches ended with victories for Vigo "Celta" and Seville "Real Betis" and a goalless draw between Bilbao "Athletic" and "Alaves."
Results:
"Villarreal" 1 - 1 "Barcelona"
49' [1 - 0] N. Sansone
90' [1 - 1] L. Messi
90+4' J. Costa (Villarreal) sent off from the field
"Celta" 3 - 1 "Malaga"
7' [1 - 0] I. Aspas
60' [2 - 0] D. Wass
73' [3 - 0] A. Fontas
86' [3 - 1] D. Wass (own goal)
"Real Betis" 2 - 0 "Leganes"
51' [1 - 0] R. Castro
85' [2 - 0] C. Piccini
"Athletic" 0 - 0 "Alaves"
League table:
