Valencia send a warning to Celts
Lionel Messi bagged a double as Barcelona had to battle back to snatch a 2-2 draw with Valencia at the Nou Camp.
The La Liga leaders’ streak of eight consecutive league wins came to a halt against a Valencia side that looked in good shape just a week and a half before their Europa League showdown with Celtic.
Marcelino’s men, who hit the woodwork in the second minute, took the lead with a welltaken finish from French forward Kevin Gameiro.
And they doubled their advantage with a powerful penalty from Dani Parejo after Sergi Roberto naively pushed Daniel Wass in the area.
Barcelona got back into the game with a Messi penalty as he scored for the eighth La Liga match in a row.
It was a soft award, although VAR agreed with ref Alberto Undiano Mallenco’s decision to award the spot-kick as there was some contact from Nelson Semedo.
And the Barcelona talisman levelled with his second – a curler from the edge of the box in the 64th minute.
Bayern Munich’s seven-match winning run in the Bundesliga came to an end as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena.
Leverkusen came from behind after a Leon Goretzka goal had put Bayern ahead just before half-time.
Leon Bailey fired in the equaliser with his first goal since September, drawing the teams level with a stunning free-kick just after the break.
Leverkusen took the lead through Kevin Volland, who slotted home when one-on-one with Sven Ulreich, before Lucas Alario wrapped up the points for the home side after his late goal was ruled onside by VAR.
Bayern’s defeat means they failed to close the gap at the top of the Bundesliga, with Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt stretching their lead to seven points.
Marco Reus put Borussia in the lead but Bundesliga leading scorer Luka Jovic drew Frankfurt level.
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said: “It was a tough game.”
In Italy, goals from Arkadiusz Milik, Lorenzo Insigne and Simone Verdi helped Napoli beat Sampdoria 3-0 to stay just in touch with Juventus at the top.