MADRID: Barcelona suffered a second consecutive La Liga defeat to blow the title race wide open as Mikel Oyarzabal’s header handed Real Sociedad a 1-0 win over the European champions on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid are now only three points behind Barca after goals from the on-form Fernando Torres, Antoine Griezmann and Koke saw them come from behind to win 3-1 at Espanyol.
Cristiano Ronaldo also kept Real Madrid in the hunt a further point back in third with a goal and two assists in a 4-0 rout of Eibar.
Barca still need to drop points in two of their last six games thanks to their better head-to-head record with Atletico.
However, the pressure is now firmly on the Catalans after tasting defeat for the second time in a week after seeing a 39-game unbeaten run snapped by Real Madrid last weekend.
“It is an exciting and open league which the best team will win,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique.
“We played very badly in the first half. In football at this level against a team that defends like Real Sociedad defended we needed much more order, control and possession to do damage to the opponent.”
