Lionel Messi rescued Barcelona from defeat by firing in a late free kick to earn the Catalonians a 1-1 draw at Villarreal on Sunday evening at the Estadio De La Ceramica in Vila-real.
Barcelona were in danger of losing their second straight match to start 2017 and fall six points adrift of Real Madrid in the league table until Messi dusted off his Superman cape to score and give Barcelona a precious point. Still, Barcelona are a full five points behind Los Blancos, who also have a match in hand.
Nicola Sansone gave the hosts a lead in the 50th minute with a fine strike before Messi answered late on with his free kick. Despite the late boost, for Barcelona it was another outing marked by frustration and an inability to generate scoring chances. With Barcelona's league title hopes in doubt with Real Madrid soaring and their Copa hopes in jeopardy heading into this week's second leg versus Athletic Bilbao, the pressure will surely be on manager Luis Enrique to improve the team's results.
There was one change to the Asturian's starting XI which caught the eye and that was Lucas Digne coming in for Jordi Alba at left-back. Otherwise, it was the usual cast of characters for the visitors with Andre Gomes keeping a tentative hold on his place in midfield ahead of Ivan Rakitic.
There is always an extra charge of electricity when Barcelona take step foot on Villarreal's home turf and the fans inside the newly re-named stadium were on the verge of celebrating an early opener only to see Jonathan dos Santos thump a volley over Marc-Andre ter Stegen's crossbar.
Fran Escriba had his Villarreal team set up very well in a 4-4-2 that was able to completely nullify Luis Suarez in the first half, while forcing Messi to drop further back in midfield just to get a touch. Sansone and Pato were also headaches for the Barcelona defence and posed a threat when they broke forward.
Barcelona's first good look at goal didn't come until midway through the half when a solo effort from Neymar ended with a rare shot from outside the area that just flew wide. The Brazilian had a second chance later but was unable to get on the end of a cross from Andre Gomes and Bruno cleared before a shot could be taken. Just before half-time Messi was finally able to give Asenjo something to think about and forced the Villarreal goalkeeper into a save on a near post header off a corner kick.
The second half started off the same, with Barcelona patiently probing the Villarreal defence, but the Yellow Submarine were always lurking on the counter and they would strike like a cobra minutes into the second stanza to take a 1-0 lead. A break led by Pato saw the former Milan man dish to Sansone on the right, and the Italian perfectly placed a shot that skipped past outstretched fingertips of Ter Stegen before banging off the far post and in for the goal.
With their La Liga title hopes potentially fading away, Barcelona were desperate to respond, but their energy in attack was matched by the defensive intensity of Villarreal. Escriba's men intelligently and diligently dealt with Barcelona's forays forward, leaving Suarez as the picture of frustration by successfully cutting off the passing lanes to the Uruguayan from Messi and Andres Iniesta.
By the final 20 minutes though Barcelona began to creep closer to goal and twice Messi came achingly close to drawing Barcelona level. There was a first a shot that looked like it struck the hand of a Villarreal player in the area, but play continued. That was followed by a shot that skipped off the post and bounced across the mouth of goal before being cleared.
With Barcelona playing so high up the field, there were chances for Villarreal at the other end and a Soriano shot struck the hand of Javier Mascherano in the area, but like the Messi shot before, a penalty was not whistled.
Messi was much more active in the final stages of the match and created Barcelona's last chance at an equaliser when he drew a free kick right outside the area. La Pulga stepped up and delivered an absolute gem, firing a left-footer into the top left corner of the net to earn the 1-1 draw right as the clock ticked to 90 minutes.
Match Sheet

1.- Villarreal: Asenjo; Mario, Mussachio (Alvaro, min. 87), Victor Ruiz, Jaume Costa; Bruno, Trigueros, Dos Santos, Soriano (Rodrigo, min. 83); Sansone, Pato (Castillejo, min. 76).

1.- FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Mascherano, Digne (Turan, min. 72); Busquets, Andre Gomes (Denis Suarez, min. 68), Iniesta; Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar.

Goals: 1-0, min. 50: Sansone; 1-1, min. 90: Messi.

Referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galician).

Yellow Cards: Jaume Costa (Min. 70 and 90) for Villarreal, Pique (Min. 83) for Barcelona.

Red cards: Jaume Costa (Min. 90) for Villarreal.

Stadium: La Ceramica.

Attendance: 24,890.