Eurosport - Sun, 10 May 21:48:00 2009
Barcelona must wait a little longer to clinch the Liga title after Villarreal struck back to earn a dramatic 3-3 draw with a stoppage-time goal from Joseba Llorente at the Camp Nou.
The Champions League and Copa del Rey finalists were cruising at 3-1 after first-half goals from Seydou Keita, Samuel Eto'o and Daniel Alves.
But a red card for defender Eric Abidal 12 minutes from time opened the door for Villarreal, and Matias Fernandez scored from the penalty spot before Llorente squirmed clear to lash a shot in off the post for his second of the match.
The leaders have 86 points, eight ahead of Real Madrid, who lost 3-0 at Valencia on Saturday, with three games to play.
"We only need one more point with nine left to play for. We are effectively champions already. It would be a miracle if we don't win it now," Eto'o told Radio Marca.
However there was bad news for Barca after the match when it was revealed that attacking midfield star Andres Iniesta, the last-gasp matchwinner against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final second leg last week, will miss Wednesday's Copa final against Athletic Bilbao and perhaps the European final with Manchester United with a thigh strain.
Sevilla are third with 63 and Valencia fourth on 59 after both won on Saturday.
Atletico are fifth with 58 after Diego Forlan scored a last-minute winner against Espanyol, the Madrid side fighting back from 2-0 down with 10 men to win 3-2 at the Calderon.
Forlan's double took his tally for the season to 27.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola was as good as his word in Catalonia, refusing to rest anyone: the only players missing from the usual line-up were the injured Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez.
Villarreal were opened up after 12 minutes when Keita was put through and his shot ballooned off a defender's leg and in under the bar.
But the visitors, who have their eyes on a return to Europe's elite competition next year, sliced through the home side after an interception in midfield, with Llorente sliding in for the final touch in the 22nd.
A stunning one-handed save from Victor Valdes kept it all square, and dogged persistence from Iniesta after a quickly taken free-kick set up Eto'o for his 28th goal of the season to put Barca back in front on 36 minutes.
Alves curled in a free-kick from the edge of the area just before the break.
Mexican waves were circling the stadium until Abidal's red card for barging into Nihat Kahveci in the area.
The Frenchman, also sent off in the second leg against Chelsea, will now miss the domestic final as well as the Champions League final against Manchester United.
Fernandez dispatched the ensuing penalty and Llorente's superb finish put a damper on the Barcelona festivities.
Earlier, two goals from Esteban Granero helped drag Getafe away from the relegation places with a 3-0 home win over direct rivals Osasuna, who played most of the match with 10 men.
There was no change at the bottom after Sporting Gijon and Recreativo lost and last-placed Numancia drew with Valladolid.
Liga results:
Getafe 3-0 Osasuna
Malaga 1-0 Racing Santander
Valladolid 0-0 Numancia
Recreativo 1-2 Deportivo
Almeria 3-1 Sporting
Atletico Madrid 3-2 Espanyol
Barcelona 3-3 Villarreal
Comment 30 - 49 of 49
whats wrong with getachew44?? mental erosion? ;-p
well well well.. looks whos talking.. its that madrid cabron..! hey getachew44, i hardly see u on valencia - madrid comment but u wont suprise me by popping here.. @#$% always popped up from sewer, just like u now.. sorry mate, u just invalid here..!
b4 Csea - Barca game, i heard everybody said that csea will destroy Barca w/out the likes of Puyol n Marquez on defence lineup n Henry upfront.. even during the game Barca suffer Abidal blow with still about half an hour to go, they csea still unable to killed off Barca despite having one man extra.. so, this is just a slight blow, ya they will get extra difficulties but impossible is not in Barca vocabulary..
still gonna be a tight match..
visca el Barca..!
i love teams that come from valencia or around valencia
the submarines r always the team that cause alot of problem in camp nou
the most interesting of this game is that barca end 1st half 3-1
but paid to much in the 2nd half
iniesta injured, abidal sent off & recieve an 3rd goal in injury time! even xavi, eto'o alves & messi were v.tierd they were almost walking or sleeping
i'm not sure if they could handle very strong team phisicaly
they were almost dead
the 2 teams waiting them in final r the strongest phisicaly
juaqin caparos's team r the strongest team phisicaly in spain
i think man u r also stronger
the most imp thing is that they spoil their party
the good moment was when i see the face of pep guardiola after the 3rd goal
barca fans r angry from puyol,abidal,messi,eto'o tore & valdez
keep the last name & give us the rest 5 of them
I think the referee of this match has clearly indicted UEFA or whoever appointed Overboard or overblow or whatever his name was as the ref in the CL match between Chlesea and Barca. Abidal pushing a player off the ball in the box got him a red card and a penalty infavour of Villarreal, at Nou camp!!. What a bold decision by a world class referee? This man would have given at least one of the four penalty claims we had at the bridge. Wouldn't it have been better to use this man, a spaniard notwithstanding, than to have used that man who came to destroy the good name UEFA has been labouring for?? Everyone involved in the appointment of Over.. should just resign from UEFA now!!. They should resign now when it can still be called a path of honour. UEFA should be bold enough to apologise to the whole football world for the greatest recoreded mistake made in football history. You need to admit you were very wrong, oh UEFA!!
I think the referee of this match has clearly indicted UEFA or whoever appointed Overboard or overblow or whatever his name was as the ref in the CL match between Chlesea and Barca. Abidal pushing a player off the ball in the box got him a red card and a penalty infavour of Villarreal, at Nou camp!!. What a bold decision by a world class referee? This man would have given at least one of the four penalty claims we had at the bridge. Wouldn't it have been better to use this man, a spaniard notwithstanding, than to have used that man who came to destroy the good name UEFA has been labouring for?? Everyone involved in the appointment of Over.. should just resign from UEFA now!!. They should resign now when it can still be called a path of honour. UEFA should be bold enough to apologise to the whole football world for the greatest recoreded mistake made in football history. You need to admit you were very wrong, oh UEFA!!
A few years ago Barça 4 manutd 0, even Albert Ferrer (who played for chelsea later) scored a goal. And don´t forget that in the 1991 Cup Winners Cup Final, 2-1 for united, Barça scored the equalizer but it was denied by the ref for NONEXISTENT offside. I hope this time Barça won´t be robbed by utd.
aaaaah my dream of celebrating the title with my friends at the camp nou was ruined...i think elbarca hierarchy should start looking for a world class LB and 2 backup FBs on the both sides coz abidal has truly proven 2 b a total jacka'ss...i dont mind the draw really but getting iniesta injured is a major disappointment...Visca Elbarca
oblicash, i can recall barca thumping utd 4-0,in fergie's managerial lifetime too.don't support either utd or barca but remember that game. stoitchkov and romario were awesome.
what make you guys think that Barca can beat Man u? have barca ever beating man u? please i will like to know !!!
barca only care for attack and not to defend, United will attack very early with much goals and go back to defend it, that is what they call good football club.
who is barca? Man U has been beating them and will continue to beat them.
elson,in awnser to your question,i believe drogba was taken off because he had a knock?And belletti(as you should know)just loves to roam forward. was hardly a negative substitution.still hope uefa give the final to tom henning ovrebo.i mean in barcelona's opinion he's a good ref?
peterjmac, FIFA's definition says it's a penalty only if a player handles the ball "deliberately." And Drogba was falling the whole game whenever he goes near guy half his size. It's hard to believe him when there is a real penalty. And Chelsea screwed themselves when they substitute of a striker and put on a defender after Abidal got sent off. They had a lot of chance early on, why would they sub a striker off after a Barca's defender was sent off.
Today's game, Messi, Eto'o and Xavi was substituted off because everybody thought the job was done. That along with Abidal's red card left Barca vulnerable.
last minute goal and a penalty ! just love it.good to see that there is a referee out there that is strong enough to call one against barcelona. where was loch nessy again tonight? sorry i meant lionel messy,same thing really, both go missing on the big occasion?
Man U is a good team I'll say that but you are talking about BARCA!! Even with the absences of Alves,Abidal, and Marquez we will beat Man U. Its gonna be close but I know we will especially with the best attack in the world. MESSI ETO'O and HENRY! I will give Rooney and Ronaldo their credit they are exceptional players but BARCA has the team to beat anyone this year. We tied Chelsea in the semi's but who cares that's all we needed a tie! We also didnt have Henry for the semi's if he was there the attack would have been much better. BARCA 2 MAN U 1 (ETO'O, HENRY) (RONALDO or maybe TEVEZ)
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Abidal is collecting red cards. He must be investigated for illegal betting. LoL
man u should find it easy...ish
the thing about me u is they have a solid defence, great attack and a hard working midfield. barcelona are simular to aresnal in the fact they have all creative players but no defence or defenive minded midfield. i can see ronaldo and rooney causing more trouble to their defence than messi and eto'o do to man u's.
barcelona with all their attacking powers could only manage one shot on target against chelsea. they didn't even beat them they drew twice and in the second game they had the ref refusing every single pen.
i'd much prefur to play barcelona in the final then chelsea. barcelona are way over hyped
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