Barcelona moved back into second on Sunday evening as they beat relegation strugglers Levante 3-2 in a thrilling clash.
Jose Luis Morales gave the home side the lead after 52 minutes from the penalty spot before Roger squandered another spot-kick to make it 2-0 only four minutes later.
That proved costly as Barcelona hit back shortly after with two goals in the space of four minutes.
First Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued his stunning start to his Barcelona career with the equaliser before wonderkid Pedri put the away team into the lead.
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But, astonishingly, Levante were awarded a third penalty which Gonzalo Melero dispatched to make it 2-2.
Super-sub Luuk de Jong came to the rescue, though, in injury time for Barcelona to clinch a 3-2 victory.
The result means that Barcelona return to second. If they win their game in hand they can go nine points behind Real Madrid with seven games left.
Real Madrid opened up a 12-point lead at the top of the La Liga table on Saturday thanks to a 2-0 win over Getafe.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side moved to 72 points for the campaign as they continue to bounce back from their disappointment in El Clasico with successive wins.
For once, Karim Benzema was not on target for Los Blancos, with goals in either half from Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez guiding them to a straightforward success.
On Friday night, Sevilla had temporarily closed the gap to nine points as they overcame Granada in an entertaining 4-2 victory at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. They seemed destined to drop points as Victor Diaz made it 2-2 in the 88th minute, yet stoppage-time strikes from Rafa Mir and Alejandro Gomez gave the hosts a win that keeps them in command of a Champions League spot.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, find themselves in a tougher spot. A shock 1-0 loss away to a Real Mallorca side that started the weekend in the bottom three has turned up the pressure on them before they tackle Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek.
Their slip was compounded by the fact that earlier in the day Real Betis had recorded a 2-1 win over Cadiz, who saw Mallorca leapfrog them due to Atleti’s slip. Betis scored twice late in the game to claim victory. They trailed 1-0 until Cristian Tello scored in the 79th minute, then with five minutes left Borja Iglesias stroked the winner from the penalty spot.
Real Sociedad also capitalised on Atletico’s slip-up as they beat Elche 2-1 on Sunday. Guido Carrillo opened the scoring for Elche but goals from Alexander Soerloth and Robin Le Normand turned the game around. The Basque team are now just three points behind Atletico.
Villarreal and Athletic Club cancelled each other out with a 1-1 draw that does neither any good as they chase European football next season.
In Sunday’s two early games, Alaves’s 1-0 defeat at Osasuna leaves them rooted to the bottom of the table. They now looked doomed for relegation.
Espanyol won the mid-table battle by beating Celta Vigo 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wu Lei.
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