Just when you were wondering whether or not FC Barcelona would drop points in the final 2 months of the Spanish domestic league season, Villarreal come in and take a point away.

Playing on their home field, Villarreal were able to to battle back from a 2-0 halftime deficit, ending the match in a 2-2 tie. Ivan Rakitic and Neymar's "Panenka" penalty kick gave the visitors an early lead, but Villarreal battled back with a goal from Cedric Bakambu. Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu shot himself in the foot so to speak, allowing Villarreal to tie the game by committing an own goal.

Villarreal have played all of the top La Liga teams tough, beating Real Madrid a few months back as well as Atlético Madrid towards the beginning of the season. However they had been on a down curve leading up to their Barcelona match up, losing 3 straight. 

For league leaders Barcelona, it was the first time in 13 domestic matches that they had not won outright. Still manager Luis Enrique said that a draw was still a good result for the Catalan side. 

Real Madrid capped the weekend with a 4-0 win over Sevilla that was not as comfortable as the final score may indicate. Throughout the match play was fairly balanced, and the halftime score wa sonly 1-0 thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema only 6 minutes into the match.

Sevilla player Kevin Gameiro missed two chances to equalize before Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal to make up for his missed penalty, putting Madrid up 2-0 midway through the second half. Gareth Bale added another and substitute Jesé came on to add the fourth goal.

Coupled with Atlético's 2-1 loss to Sporting Gijón on the road, los blancos were able to close the gap on their neighbors to 1 point for second place. Even with Madrid's win and Barcelona's draw, Barcelona have a comfortable 9 point lead over Atleti. 

All 3 teams are still in the running for the Champions League trophy, with the quarterfinal stage starting Tuesday, April 5. Atlético and Barça will kick off the round by squaring off against each other in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Real Madrid will travel to Germany the following day to face Bundesliga side Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg finished second in the German league last season, and did not see Champions League play. They reached the quarterfinal stage in the UEFA Europa League tournament. 

For once things got a little interesting in Spain, although the safe money is still on Barcelona taking home the crown come May. However the next stage of the Champions League will be very intriguing. 

Photo: Flickr/El Renzo