Barcelona battle back to maintain title shot

FC Barcelona suffered a scare before a pair of goals in the space of two second-half minutes sealed a 2-1 home win against Athletic Club to keep their Liga hopes alive.

Beaten at Granada CF last weekend and in Wednesday's Copa del Rey final, Barça looked as if they might suffer another loss when Aritz Aduriz put fourth-placed Athletic in front with 50 minutes on the clock. Defeat would have left the champions seven points off pacesetters Club Atlético de Madrid, but Pedro Rodríguez turned in Alexis Sánchez's scuffed shot with 18 minutes remaining, before a Lionel Messi free-kick secured victory moments later.

Sevilla FC kept up the pressure on Athletic in the race for Spain's final UEFA Champions League spot thanks to a dominant 4-0 home win against Granada CF, a Diego Mainz Garcia own goal putting the hosts in front on 14 minutes. Kevin Gameiro doubled the advantage shortly after the interval before setting up Stéphane Mbia, and Vitolo finished off the scoring from close range midway through the half.

Also on Sunday, Rayo Vallecano de Madrid defeated bottom side Real Betis Balompié 3-1 to leave the basement club ten points off safety with four games remaining, while UD Almería are two points behind 17th-placed Real Valladolid CF following a 4-2 home loss to RC Celta de Vigo.