Barcelona held but Luis Enrique upbeat

Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique remained upbeat after his side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Villarreal and said: “We’re one point closer to our objective.”

Jeremy Mathieu scored an own goal from a corner to draw Villarreal level after Cedric Bakambu had reduced the deficit following first-half goals from Ivan Rakitic and Neymar, who netted from the penalty spot.

Barcelona moved nine points ahead of Atletico Madrid atop La Liga after Diego Simeone’s side’s defeat at Sporting Gijon, but would have gone 11 ahead had they managed to hold onto their lead at El Madrigal.

“Our nearest rivals lost yesterday so we have gained a point. It’s a positive day for us as we’re one point closer to our objective,” Luis Enrique told a press conference.

“We were close to getting three points but we also nearly lost, so I’m positive. Every point we gain on the team chasing us is fantastic.”

Late goals from John Guidetti and Hugo Mallo gave Celta Vigo a 2-0 win at hapless Valencia to pile more misery on coach Gary Neville, who was the subject of angry chants by the Mestalla crowd.

Real Madrid closed within one point of second-placed Atletico with a 4-0 home win over Sevilla, despite Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty, while Keylor Navas saved a Sevilla penalty from Kevin Gameiro.

Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Jese Rodriguez scored Real’s goals.

In Serie A, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon added another record to his decorated career as he made history during Juventus’ 4-1 win over local rivals Torino.

The 38-year-old broke the 22-year-old Serie A clean-sheet record of 929 minutes, previously held by former AC Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi, in the fourth minute of the Turin derby before Paul Pogba almost stole the headlines with a superb free-kick to give Massimiliano Allegri’s side an early lead. Sami Khedira put the league leaders 2-0 up at the break.

Buffon eventually conceded for the first time in the league since January 10 through Andrea Belotti’s penalty — with the Italy all-time record appearance holder setting a new mark of 974 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.

Despite Khedira’s late dismissal, substitute Alvaro Morata made sure of the points with a brace as the Biancineri eased their midweek Champions League heartache to extend their unbeaten league run to 20 games.