Celta's Iago Aspas celebrating after scoring their second goal against Barcelona on Tuesday — AP MADRID, Apr 18 (AP): Barcelona held on to a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in the Spanish league on Tuesday despite resting its regular starters and finishing the match with 10 men.
Lionel Messi came off the bench in the second half to give the league leaders a boost but Sergi Roberto was sent off about 10 minutes later to allow Celta to equalize and nearly pull off the victory.
The result took Barcelona's unbeaten streak to 40 straight league games, extending the record it had broken last weekend against Valencia. It became the first team to stay unbeaten in 33 consecutive league games in the same season.
It also left Barcelona 12 points in front of second-place Atletico Madrid, which visits mid-table Real Sociedad on Thursday. The Catalan club has a chance of clinching the title this weekend, depending on other results.
Villarreal ended a three-game winless streak by defeating Leganes 2-1 and opening a three-point gap to seventh-place Sevilla.
Victor Ruiz put the hosts ahead before halftime and Carlos Bacca added to the lead early in the second half, while Darko Brasanac pulled one back for 14th-place Leganes near the end of the match at Ceramica Stadium.
Deportivo La Coruna and Sevilla drew 0-0, a result that didn't help either club.
Deportivo remained in 18th place with the home draw, four points inside the relegation zone.
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