Barcelona 2-2 Deportivo: Visitors come back from two-down to snatch unlikely point

Barcelona threw away a two-goal lead at home against Deportivo to draw 2-2 and missed an opportunity to open up a five point lead at the top of La Liga.

Barcelona dominated possession in the first-half, as they often do, but they created very little until Lionel Messi took matters into his own hands, curling a sublime free-kick into the net to break the deadlock, before Ivan Rakitic's thunderbolt doubled their lead just after the hour mark.

Luis Enrique shuffled his pack thinking the game was won, but Depor had other ideas, with goals from the in-form Lucas and a late Alex Bergantinos equaliser snatching an unlikely point for the Galicians. 

Enrique's men now hold a three-point lead at the top of the table, with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid still to play, while Depor stretched their unbeaten run to seven league games.

The hosts started the match very much on the front foot, with several stars looking refreshed after being rested for their midweek Champions League draw at Bayer Leverkusen.

Luis Suarez should really have opened the scoring early on, after latching onto Sandro's knockdown, but he fired wide from point-blank range.

Jonathan Rodriguez then had a great chance for Depor, but his first touch let him down after being expertly picked out by Juanfran, allowing Claudio Bravo to race from his line to narrow the angle and make the save.

Barca toiled to find a way through an organised Depor unit, and once again turned to Messi for inspiration - and the little magician delivered once again after 39 minutes.

The Argentina captain had seen an earlier free-kick easily saved by German Lux in the Depor goal, but this time he got it spot on, curling an unstoppable effort into the top corner to give his side the lead.

After the break, Barca continued to enjoy plenty of the ball without creating a great deal, but on 62 minutes Rakitic looked to have sealed the victory for the hosts.

Often guilty of overplaying, Rakitic was allowed time to shoot, and he capitalised emphatically, firing an unstoppable effort from 25-yards past Lux to double the hosts lead.

Enrique introduced Jeremy Mathieu to give Jordi Alba a rest, but the Frenchman was caught out immediately, allowing Lucas to get in behind and curl his side back in it - the sixth game in a row he's found the net.

Barca were visibly shaken, and the mistakes continued to creep in, and after several counters almost caught them napping, Depor managed to repeat their heroics of last season's final day to level proceedings.

With numbers forward, Depor patiently worked the ball to Bergantinos on the right, and he made no mistake, firing into the bottom corner to send the visiting fans high in the stands into raptures.

Either team could have won it, as the game was so open, but the draw was no less than Depor deserved. Barca took their foot off the gas far too soon, and they were made to pay - not ideal preparation before they head to Japan for the World Club Championships.