FC Barcelona's run of 16 sucessive Liga victories came to an end with a 1-1 draw at Real Sporting de Gijón.

David Barral gave Sporting, who began the match a point clear of the relegation zone, a 16th-minute lead after surging past Gerard Piqué and Gabriel Milito before shooting beyond Víctor Valdés. David Villa made a prolonged spell of pressure tell for the pacesetters with ten minutes remaining, adroitly lobbing Iván Cuéllar from the corner of the penalty area.

Barcelona previously failed to win in the top flight on 3 October, when they drew 1-1 with RCD Mallorca. Real Madrid CF can cut their rivals' lead to five points by defeating RCD Espanyol on Sunday.

Joaquín doubled his Liga tally for the campaign with both Valencia CF's goals in a 2-1 win at Club Atlético de Madrid. His winner arrived four minutes from time, before Diego Godín (90) was dismissed for eighth-placed Atlético.

Ten-man Real Racing Club, meanwhile, prevailed 3-2 against Sevilla FC in their first match in Marcelino García Toral's second spell in charge. Sevilla, who wasted one of two penalties they were awarded, had recovered from 2-0 down after the dismissal of Christian Fernández (39), before Manuel Arana struck the added-time winner.

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