Barca extend lead despite draw in Villarreal

FC Barcelona edged closer to the BBVA Primera Liga title despite dropping two points on their 2-2 draw against fourth placed Villarreal on Sunday afternoon.

Barca's point coupled with Atletico Madrid's defeat away to Sporting Gijon saw Barca open their lead at the top of the table to nine points over their nearest rivals, although Barca coach Luis Enrique will probably be disappointed that the lead is not 11.

First half goals from Ivan Rakitic and a controversial penalty scored by Neymar gave a 2-0 half time lead to the away team. The referee could have sent off Gerard Pique for two handball offenses, but instead expelled Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia for his protests.

The game changed in the second half when Luis Enrique decided to substitute Pique for Jeremy Mathieu and Villarreal found new life through a goal by Cedric Bakambu and an unfortunate own goal from Mathieu.

Atletico Madrid's title hopes seemed to evaporate on Saturday when Diego Simeone's side lost 2-1 away to Sporting Gijon.

Atletico noticed the effects of their Champions League win over PSV Eindhovenon Tuesday night, but took the lead through a brilliant Antoine Griezmann free kick.

Antonio Sanabria responded to Griezmann's free kick with one of his own with 11 minutes left and Carlos Castro scored with a simple finish three minutes from time to give Sporting a vital win.

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-o thanks to goals from Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jese in a game where both sides missed penalties and Madrid keeper Keylor Navas was the star.

Valencia coach Gary Neville's future hangs by a threat after his side's 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo, who took the points thanks to late goals from John Guidetti and Hugo Mallo.

Espanyol took advantage of Athletic Club Bilbao's tired legs to beat the Basque side 2-1 with second half goals from Pape Diop and Felipe Caicedo after Javier Eraso had put the visitors ahead before the break.

A William Jose goal give Las Palmas an important 1-0 win away to Real Sociedad, while Granada and Rayo are both still in trouble after a 2-2 draw between the two after Rayo twice came back from behind to take a point.

Deportivo la Coruna had a stroke of luck which enabled them to win their first game of 2016 when Lucas Perez's shot rebounded into the goal off the back of Levante goalkeeper Diego Marino with 5 minutes left in the game.

Luis Alberto had put Deportivo ahead just before half time and although Giuseppe Rossi equalized early in the second half, the home side's ambition finally got its reward.

Meanwhile Ignacio Camacho's solitary goal saw Malaga's excellent second half to the season continue at the expense of Betis. Endi