Messi comes off the bench to Barcelona's rescue

Bengaluru, April 3: Barcelona star Lionel Messi came off the bench in his side's hour of need to inspire the La Liga leaders to battle back from 2-4 down in stoppage time to snatch a remarkable 4-4 draw at struggling Villarreal.

The Catalans avoided a first league loss since November with a thumping left-foot strike from Luis Suarez deep into added time after captain and top scorer Messi gave them hope with a deadly free kick in the 90th minute.

The draw saw Barca's lead over Atletico Madrid, who earlier won 2-0 at home to Girona, trimmed to eight points ahead of Saturday's (April 6) top-of-the-table clash at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona have 70 points to Atletico's 62 with eight games left.

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Even without Messi, Gerard Pique and Ivan Rakitic in their starting line-up, the visitors still strolled into the lead through a Philippe Coutinho goal in the 12th minute, which Brazilian forward Malcom soon doubled with a header.

But Villarreal, who began the game one point above the relegation zone, hauled themselves into contention with a strike from 19-year-old Samuel Chukwueze midway through the first half.

Cameroon striker Karl Toko Ekambi took advantage of slack positioning from Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to equalise soon after the interval and Vicente Iborra completed the home side's remarkable revival just after the hour mark.

Barcelona's Argentinian talisman Messi was called from the bench to rescue the champions but instead Villarreal increased their lead with a strike from their substitute Carlos Bacca.

Villarreal's Alvaro Gonzalez was then dismissed for a second booking with four minutes remaining, paving the way for South Americans Messi and Suarez to strike for Barcelona and produce a remarkable finish to an enthralling contest.

A 93rd-minute equaliser... 😱#VillarrealBarça pic.twitter.com/J5eykR9Q1d

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) April 2, 2019

"It was a crazy game, one which it seemed either side could have won comfortably, and it speaks volumes about the strength of this league, where you can never assume you're going to win a game easily," said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.