La Liga round-up: Villarreal put Barcelona's celebrations on hold

May 11, 2009 • 0 • min read

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Barcelona were made to wait for their 19th La Liga title following a 3-3 draw with Villarreal at the Camp Nou.

Real Madrid's 3-0 defeat at Valencia on Saturday evening meant the Catalans could seal their first trophy of what has been an amazing season on Sunday.

But Pep Guardiola and his troops disappointed their expectant home supporters as they let a two-goal lead slip at home.

The hosts took the lead after 12 minutes when Seydou Keita's angled drive took a deflection off Gonzalo Rodríguez and looped over Diego López into the back of the net.

Villarreal leveled 10 minutes later with Joseba Llorente clipping the ball home from Giuseppe Rossi's low cross.

Barcelona restored the lead in the 36th minute when Andrés Iniesta skipped past Gonzalo and set up Samuel Eto'o for a simple tap-in.

Daniel Alves then added a third just before the break with a stunning free kick from the edge of the area.

The visiting side were given a lifeline with 12 minutes remaining when Éric Abidal, who was dismissed at Chelsea in midweek, was sent off for fouling Nihat Kahveci in the area.

Matías Fernández kept his cool to fire home the spot-kick and set up a nervy finish.

And then in time added on Llorente silenced the expectant home crowd when he swivelled and fired the visitors' late equaliser.

Barcelona