Barcelona's players celebrating after Luis Suarez scored during the Spanish League football match against Villarreal CF at La Ceramica stadium in Vila-real on Wednesday — AFP VILAREAL, Spain, Apr 03 (Reuters): Barcelona's Lionel Messi came off the bench in his side's hour of need to inspire the Liga leaders to battle back from 4-2 down in stoppage time to snatch a remarkable 4-4 draw at struggling Villarreal on Tuesday.
The Catalans avoided a first league loss since November with a thumping left-foot strike from Luis Suarez deep into added time after captain and top scorer Messi gave them hope with a deadly free kick in the 90th minute.
The draw saw Barca's lead over Atletico Madrid, who earlier won 2-0 at home to Girona, trimmed to eight points ahead of Saturday's top-of-the-table clash at the Nou Camp. Barcelona have 70 points to Atletico's 62 with eight games left.
Even without Messi, Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic in their starting lineup, the visitors still strolled into the lead through a Philippe Coutinho goal in the 12th minute, which Brazilian forward Malcom soon doubled with a header.
But Villarreal, who began the game one point above the relegation zone, hauled themselves into contention with a strike from 19-year-old Samuel Chukwueze midway through the first half.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid left it late to see off Girona 2-0 at home on Tuesday as strikes from Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann kept up their faint hopes of catching La Liga leaders Barcelona, trimming their deficit with the Catalans to eight points.
Captain Godin finally broke the deadlock in the 76th minute with the help of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after the goal had been initially ruled out for offside against Griezmann.
That gave Atletico a lead they barely deserved and France striker Griezmann sealed victory deep in added time with a perfect chipped finish after a counter-attack, snapping a seven-game spell in all competitions without a goal for his club.
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