BARCELONA • Barcelona forward Luis Suarez lamented his side's controversial 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo on Saturday, after the champions twice threw away the lead to hand more momentum to title rivals Real Madrid.

Suarez scored both of Barca's goals but Celta forward Fedor Smolov and Iago Aspas each levelled for the struggling hosts.

Aspas equalised with a free kick with two minutes remaining. The set piece was awarded after Gerard Pique was deemed to have fouled Rafinha, but replays suggest that the defender did not make contact with the Barcelona loanee.

"I'm happy to have been able to help the team with my goals but overall I'm left with sensations of anger and frustration," Suarez said.

"We feel as though we have dropped two points and there are many things we need to improve. We are giving away a lot of points away from home which we didn't used to do in previous seasons."

Real faced Espanyol yesterday needing only a draw to displace Barca at the top of the table due to their superior head-to-head record.

The Catalans were two points ahead when the season was halted in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic but have won just three of their five matches back, also drawing away to Sevilla a week ago.

Barca's next match is a testing home fixture against third-placed Atletico Madrid, who enjoyed a 2-1 victory over Alaves on Saturday.

Diego Simeone's side maintained their superb run of form since the season resumed, winning their fourth straight match.

But Atletico captain Koke will miss tomorrow's trip to Barcelona through suspension.

Real have a slightly more comfortable run-in, with their hardest match looking like an away game against Athletic Bilbao.

"We're feeling very negative because we have lost two more points in the fight for the title," Suarez added. "We had our fate in our own hands but now we have to wait for Real Madrid to slip up here and there, so overall we are feeling frustrated."

Pique, who has been very vocal about officiating decisions going Real's way since the restart, took to Twitter to suggest that another call has gone against Barca.

"We were fated to pretend. To pretend," he wrote after the game.

The cryptic tweet, while making reference to a song by MGMT, appeared to be about the Rafinha incident.

REUTERS