VILA-REAL, Spain (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 footed strike from Luis Suarez deep in stoppage 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, being 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.
Cameroon striker Karl Toko Ekambi took advantage of slack positioning from Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to equalise soon after the interval and Vicente Iborra completed the home side's remarkable revival just after the hour mark.
Barca's Argentine talisman Messi was called from the bench to rescue the champions but instead Villarreal increased their lead with a strike from their substitute Carlos Bacca.
ENTHRALLING CONTEST
Villarreal's Alvaro Gonzalez was then dismissed for a second booking with four minutes remaining, paving the way for South Americans Messi and Suarez to strike for Barcelona and produce a remarkable finish to an enthralling contest.
Villarreal had been wounded by a 3-2 defeat at Celta Vigo in a relegation six-pointer on the weekend but they made a strong start to the game and could have scored twice early on as Chukwueze and Iborra were both thwarted by Ter Stegen.
But the Catalans seized the advantage when Brazilian Malcom tore down the right wing unopposed, rolling the ball across goal to allow his compatriot Coutinho to tap into an empty net.
Malcom then scored his first goal in La Liga by leaping to head home a cross from Arturo Vidal and the visiting side looked to be on course for a rampant victory.
Coutinho should have made it 3-0 when he raced into space unchallenged but his attempted chip bounced off the far post.
Villarreal found a way back into the game with the help of veteran midfielder Santi Cazorla, who picked out Chukwueze with an incisive pass, and although the Nigerian shot against the post, he calmly tucked the rebound back into the net.
The hosts were galvanised and produced a bold and exciting display of counter-attacking football that made it easy to forget they have been struggling at the foot of the table for most of the season.
But, spurred on by Messi, Barca roared back to life, showing why they enjoy such a generous lead at the top of the league.
ADVERTISEMENT(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Ken Ferris)