Barca slip in Spain
Hand advantage to Real after a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo
Madrid, June 28: Barcelona’s title hopes suffered a hammer blow on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo.
Luis Suarez twice put Barca in front at Balaidos with his first goals since January but Iago Aspas bent in a late free-kick to earn Celta a draw, in what could prove a pivotal moment in the title race.
Madrid own the superior head-to-head against Barca and have won four out of four since Spanish league restarted earlier this month. With a kinder run-in than the Catalans, who play Atletico Madrid next on Tuesday, the trophy appears to be Madrid's to lose.
Suarez played his best game since undergoing knee surgery in January, his first goal coming from a surprise free-kick from Lionel Messi, who crossed when everyone expected him to shoot.
Yet Barcelona’s defensive frailties hurt them again and Celta should even have won it in injurytime, only for Nolito to miss a golden chance at the back post.
Celta climb to 16th, eight points clear of the bottom three.
Quique Setien answered calls to start 20-year-old Riqui Puig and 17-year-old Ansu Fati, and the duo impressed, injecting energy and speed into Barca’s attack.
Antoine Griezmann was left on the bench and when he came on, he was on the side of the wall that Aspas breached with his free-kick to find the bottom corner.
Messi was at the heart of everything going forward and it was his early corner that Gerard Pique headed against the crossbar.
With a free-kick on the edge of the area in the 20th minue and a 700th career goal in sight, Messi sized up the sprawl of Celta defenders in front of him.
But with everone expecting a shot, Messi clipped a cross towards the post, where Suarez headed in.
Messi even tried to score from a corner but Celta had chances too on the break. A poor clearance from Marc-Andre ter Stegen went unpunished by Fedor Smolov, who then overhit his pass when Aspas was clear. Brais Mendez slid through and hit the post.