Cadiz hold Barcelona, Real close gap on leaders Atletico

Barcelona compounded their Champions League misery at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain by drawing on Sunday at home to Cadiz, who scored an 89th-minute penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi broke a Barcelona record by making his 506th La Liga appearance for the club and marked the milestone with a goal, his own spot-kick looking likely to secure a narrow win for his side.

But Barca failed to score a second despite a hatful of chances and Cadiz punished them with a late equaliser, Alex Fernandez converting from the spot after a wild swing from Clement Lenglet.

The draw means Ronald Koeman’s side move only one point closer to Atletico Madrid in the table instead of three, after Atletico gave their rivals an opportunity by losing at home to Levante on Saturday.

Barcelona had won their previous seven games and another victory would have put them back within touching distance of Atletico, even if La Liga’s leaders have played one game fewer.

Instead, Koeman is left to reflect on a hugely disappointing week for his team, that saw them hammered 4-1 by PSG on Tuesday and slip up at home to relegation-battling Cadiz.

Barca had 21 shots to Cadiz’s three but having failed to capitalise, they were always vulnerable to a lapse at the back, which the out-of-form Lenglet duly provided.  Fernandez held his nerves to score the equaliser, an even more memorable goal for him perhaps as a Real Madrid fan and brother of Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez.

Messi’s goal was his 16th of the season, drawing him level with Atletico’s Luis Suarez at the top of the La Liga charts.  The 33-year-old cooly rolled the ball into the corner after Pedri was stopped from breaking through, sandwiched between Salvi and Isaac Carcelen.

Both Frenkie de Jong and Pedi had goals ruled out for offside while Messi almost teed up Antoine Griezmann early in the second half. Ousmane Dembele’s driving run lacked a finish too.

Then Cadiz’s moment came, a long ball launched into the box and Lenglet failing to spot Ruben Sobrino arriving behind him. Lenglet swung a leg but Sobrino touched the ball away first, allowing Fernandez a special equaliser.

Real Madrid are back within touching distance of the top of La Liga after they punished another Atletico Madrid slip against Levante on Saturday by beating Real Valladolid 1-0.

Atletico had the chance to stretch their lead to 11 points this week by winning back-to-back games against Levante but instead they followed a 1-1 draw on Wednesday with a surprise 2-0 loss, meaning a five-point advantage became only six.

Real Madrid cranked up the pressure again by edging to a win over struggling Real Valladolid, Casemiro’s second-half header cutting the gap to just three points, albeit with Atletico still owning a game in hand.

“It’s not because Atletico lost. We believe we can win the league,” said Casemiro.

“There are still 42 points left, that’s a lot of points.”

The swing in momentum comes at a bad time for Atletico, who face Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday, and it feels significant given it has coincided with a resurgence, in La Liga at least, for their chasing rivals. Real’s victory at the Jose Zorilla Stadium was their fourth in a row, three of those coming with clean sheets, which suggests a return to form for a defence that all but clinched them the title last season.

Zinedine Zidane’s side have done it without several key players too. Karim Benzema is the latest absentee through injury, joining the likes of Eden Hazard, Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal on the sidelines.

Benzema is struggling to be fit in time for Real Madrid’s Champions League game away at Atalanta on Wednesday.

“It is better, we will see tomorrow, but we are not going to risk anything,” said Zidane.

It meant a rare start for Mariano Diaz up front against Valladolid, while Isco was the only senior player on the bench. Real remain in second but moved on to 52 points after 24 games, with Atletico leading the standings on 55 with a game in hand.

Agencies