Barcelona snatched an unlikely victory after Ronald Araujo headed home the only goal of the game in the third minute of stoppage time at Real Sociedad.
The defending LaLiga champions had captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank after the German goalkeeper made several crucial saves to keep an energetic Sociedad side at bay.
Xavi’s side struggled to muster any genuine openings until the final embers of the match and cruelly took all three points when Araujo planted a power header through the legs of goalkeeper Alex Remiro, which was initially ruled offside, with virtually the last attack to seal the 1-0 victory.
The hosts made a rapid start when Ander Barrenetxea forced ter Stegen into a fine diving save inside the first minute.
Aihen Munoz was next to try his luck and should have done better, while Mikel Merino glanced a free header wide during a frentic opening three minutes.
La Real continued their momentum as Barcelona struggled to get into the match and Takefusa Kubo found himself with a great chance to break the deadlock, but ter Stegen denied the Japan international’s fierce far-post effort.
Mikel Oyarzabal should have done better when he latched on to a slack back pass from Barca defender Jules Kounde, but the Sociedad captain poked his effort wide when one-on-one with ter Stegen.
Sociedad ensured play was deep in Barca’s half and piled on the pressure further through a series of corners around the half-hour mark, which created more opportunities to opening the scoring.
Martin Zubimendi juggled the half-clearance from a Kubo corner before sending in a low cross. His centre was deflected to ter Stegen, but he spilled the ball and Oyarzabal was fastest to react as he stabbed an effort goalwards, only to be denied by the goalkeeper for another corner.
As half-time approached, Barcelona appealed for two penalties, firstly when Robert Lewandowski went down under a challenge before Joao Felix jinked past Zubeldia, where there was substantial contact, but referee Javier Alberola Rojas and VAR decided it was not worthy of a spot-kick.
In the 66th minute, the home side appealed for a penalty when Oyarzabal was felled in the area but to no avail, before Sociedad tested the visitors’ goal once more.
A long throw was half-cleared by the Barcelona defence, which fell in the direct of Barrenetxea on the edge of the box to fire a brilliant volley which was pushed wide by ter Stegen.
From the following corner, Kubo then raced around Gavi to get to the byline inside the area, but his cutback was cleared by a retreating Pedri.
Substitute Raphinha fired a 25-yard free-kick just over for the away team before they produced one of their best moves of the match, with a flowing counter-attack resulting in Ferran Torres picking up the ball on the edge of the area, but he blazed way over.
Barcelona almost snatched victory when another break led Pedri to patiently lay off to Gavi inside the area, but his effort was expertly saved by Remiro.
Araujo initially looked in anguish as he headed home Ilkay Gundogan’s teasing cross after the assistant flagged him offside. However, following a VAR check, the Uruguayan defender had timed his run to perfection to be Xavi’s unlikely match-winner.
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 Le Havre: Ramos rescues point but title confirmation must wait
Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 3-3 draw at home to relegation-battling Le Havre on Saturday and will need to wait before confirming their 12th Ligue 1 title.
PSG would have clinched the title with three games to spare with a victory. They have a 12-point gap over second-placed Monaco, who are at Lyon on Sunday, and a goal difference of 47 to Monaco's 18.
The away side opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Christopher Operi and PSG levelled 10 minutes later with Bradley Barcola scoring, but Le Havre went ahead again seven minutes before the break when Andre Ayew found the net.
Le Havre made it 3-1 with an Abdoulaye Toure penalty in the 61st minute, before Achrif Hakimi gave PSG hope with a goal 12 minutes from time and Goncalo Ramos levelled in added time. Le Havre are 15th on 29 points.
Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea: Gallagher caps Blues fightback at Villa Park
Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser as Chelsea fought back from two goals down to clinch a deserved 2-2 draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday.
Villa looked set to go nine points clear of Tottenham in the race to finish in the Premier League's top four, with Marc Cucurella's own goal and Morgan Rogers' low drive giving them a handsome half-time lead.
Mauricio Pochettino's men dominated much of the first half without reward, but they continued to press after the interval and cultured finishes from Noni Madueke and Gallagher dragged them level.
They almost completed a fine comeback in stoppage time, but there was relief for Villa when referee Craig Pawson disallowed a goal for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi following a VAR review due to an infringement from Benoit Badiashile.
It meant Villa boss Unai Emery was unable to celebrate his new long-term contract with three points, with his team now seven points clear of fifth-placed Spurs, who have three games in hand on their rivals.
Chelsea stay ninth and are five points adrift of the top seven, but with a game in hand to come, their European hopes are not yet over.
Villa made a flying start and were ahead within four minutes, albeit in somewhat fortunate circumstances. John McGinn didn't get a clean connection on Lucas Digne's left-wing cutback, but his shot bounced off Cucurella and into the net.
Chelsea thought they were level after 16 minutes as Nicolas Jackson raced clear to finish into the roof of the net, but his strike was disallowed for offside after a VAR review, with replays showing he was leaning beyond Matty Cash.
Jackson should then have equalised when found by Cucurella six yards out, but he could only send his header against the foot of the post and wide.
Villa then doubled their lead against the run of play shortly before half-time, with Djordje Petrovic powerless as Rogers squeezed his shot through Trevoh Chalobah's legs and in.
A hamstring injury saw Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez withdrawn at half-time, and his replacement Robin Olsen was beaten after 62 minutes, Madueke stroking home after Gallagher forced a high turnover.
Olsen stuck out an arm to deny Madueke a second with 71 minutes gone, but he had no chance as the Blues levelled with nine minutes to play, Gallagher rifling a left-footed finish into the top-left corner.
Chelsea thought they had won it when Disasi headed home five minutes into stoppage time, but referee Pawson disallowed the goal following a VAR review, with Badiashile adjudged to have fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up.
Villa throw it away
Villa could hardly have wished for a stronger position at half-time. Despite Chelsea carving out several good openings, they found themselves 2-0 up and primed to exploit their opponents further through the pace of Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey.
Chelsea had lost 16 of their previous 18 Premier League games when trailing at half-time (one win, one draw), losing their last eight when two or more goals behind at the break.
However, Emery's men simply didn't get going after the restart, and only a late VAR review saved them from a crushing defeat, with Disasi's potential winner chalked off for a foul by fellow defender Badiashile.
Gallagher leads from the front
Gallagher has polarised opinion at times this season, but Chelsea's stand-in skipper produced a talismanic display just when his team needed him most at Villa Park.
The England international is known for his tenacious work out of possession, and he forced a turnover on the corner of the Villa box in the build-up to Madueke's goal.
Gallagher's own strike, which flew into the top corner to stun the home faithful, took him to double figures for Premier League goal involvements for the season (four goals, six assists). He has only achieved that feat in one other campaign in the competition, scoring eight goals and adding three assists on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021-22.
Four of his seven Premier League goals for Chelsea, meanwhile, have now come from outside the area.
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