Barcelona miss chance to extend league lead

Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan cancelling out Gavi’s early opener.

The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday.

The hosts had been given further motivation by Real’s shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kick-off.

However, Natan headed the equaliser from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.

“If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it is football,” Gavi said. “We’re bitter about the result, because we couldn’t take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on.”