Lionel Messi salvages draw for Barcelona while Gareth Bale carries Real Madrid

Lionel Messi and Barcelona extended their unbeaten La Liga run to 37 matches.

Lionel Messi came off the bench to net a stunning last-minute equaliser as La Liga leaders Barcelona fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Sevilla.

Franco Vazquez fired the home side, who are chasing a top-five finish, into the lead after 36 minutes and there looked no way back when Colombia forward Luis Muriel added another early in the second half.

But Barca’s talisman was sent on for the last half an hour and after Sevilla had missed several chances to kill off the match, Luis Suarez set up a grandstand finish by bundling the ball in at the back post with just two minutes left.

That was time enough for Messi to have the final say, latching onto a ball at the edge of the penalty area before dispatching a low, left-foot shot past Sergio Rico and into the bottom corner.

Barcelona remain 12 points clear at the top, with Atletico in action on Sunday, while Sevilla are still sixth, a point behind Villarreal who also have a game in hand.

Earlier, Gareth Bale scored twice as Real Madrid warmed up for their Champions League clash against Juventus with a 3-0 win at struggling Las Palmas, where Cristiano Ronaldo was rested.

With one eye on next week’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg in Turin, Los Blancos coach Zinedine Zidane opted to leave in-form frontman Ronaldo behind for the trip to Gran Canaria.

However, Real never looked in any real danger of not getting the job done as Bale fired them in front after 26 minutes before Karim Benzema converted a penalty and the Wales forward added another spot-kick early in the second half.

The win moves Real to within a point of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who host relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Europa League-chasing Girona were held to a 1-1 draw with Levante.

Alex Granell put Girona ahead in the 54th minute when he drilled home from 25 yards, but Levante earned a point when Jose Luis Morales levelled 14 minutes later. Jefferson Lerma played in Morales and he fired past Yassine Bounou.

The draw leaves Girona in seventh place, two points adrift of Sevilla.

Brais Mendez’s stoppage-time strike earned Celta Vigo a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Unai Nunez put Bilbao ahead from a corner in the 55th minute, but Mendez secured a draw when he latched on to Hugo Mallo’s cross to drill home a left-footed effort from close range.

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