Barcelona’s charge towards the title was held up after a much-changed side was held to a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo, where Sergi Roberto was sent off. They held out to extend their unbeaten run to 40 matches, however, and move 12 points ahead of second-placed Atlético Madrid, who have a game in hand.

With one eye on Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Sevilla, Barça’s manager, Ernesto Valverde, started with both Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez on the bench while Gerard Piqué and Andrés Iniesta were rested.

Ousmane Dembélé fired Barça ahead with his first La Liga goal before the defender Jonny Castro Otto equalised on the stroke of half-time.

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Paulinho put the visitors ahead again just after the hour, by which time Messi had been sent on, but Roberto saw red on 71 minutes for pulling down Iago Aspas, who made it 2-2 with eight minutes left.

The Celta substitute Lucas Boye saw a late effort cleared off the line as Barça held out to extend their unbeaten run to 40 matches and move 12 points ahead of second-placed Atlético Madrid, who have a game in hand.

Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho came into the Barça team as part of eight changes, with the goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen captaining them for the first time.

Celta, who started ninth in the table and still in contention for a Europa League spot, should have taken the lead after 10 minutes when Aspas picked out Maxi Gómez in a central position and his snapshot was beaten away by Ter Stegen.

On 25 minutes Paulinho got up to meet a corner and sent a header downwards, the ball bouncing up and on to the left-hand post.

Celta then produced a swift counterattack, which found Brais Méndez in space on the right side of the penalty area, but the midfielder could only curl his shot wide.

Ter Stegen had to be alert just after the half-hour, making a smart one-handed save to push away a rising shot from Gómez.

Barcelona soon broke the deadlock on 36 minutes when Dembélé crashed the ball in from the edge of the area on the half-volley.

Celta, though, hit back to equalise just before half-time. André Gomes was caught in possession as Aspas pushed the ball out to Gómez on the right. The low cross flashed through the six-yard box, where the left-back Jonny got ahead of his marker to bundle it in from point-blank range.

At the start of the second half the Vigo midfielder Jozabed curled the ball wide after Barcelona had been opened up down the left.

On the hour Messi was sent into action, replacing Coutinho, as Valverde looked to inject some fresh life into his team.

Barcelona regained the lead after 64 minutes when Paulinho tapped in a low cross from the right by Nélson Semedo.

Roberto was shown a red card when he pulled back Aspas as the Vigo captain broke down the left and it was no surprise when the equaliser came, albeit somewhat fortunately.

Emre Mor’s cross from the left was punched out by Ter Stegen only for the ball to deflect off Aspas, and into the net, quite possibly off the forward’s arm.

Ter Stegen redeemed himself with a smart block as Boye went through late on to help Barça preserve their unbeaten run.

Deportivo La Coruña face an uphill task to avoid the drop after being held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla at Estadio Riazor.

Consecutive 3-2 wins in their last two outings had boosted Depor’s survival hopes but they are now four points adrift of 17th-place Levante having played a game more.

Carlos Fernández and Guido Pizarro both went close for Sevilla in the first half, although only the latter managed to test the goalkeeper, Rubén.

After the interval Deportivo had the better opportunities – with Pedro Mosquera firing over and Emre Colak failing to beat David Soria.

Clarence Seedorf’s Deportivo side were trying to win their third match in a row after a run of 15 winless games. Sevilla, who played with several second-string players in readiness for the Copa del Rey final, have not won in seven successive matches in all competitions.

Villarreal, meanwhile, ended a three-game winless streak by defeating Leganés 2-1 to open a three-point gap on seventh-place Sevilla. Víctor Ruiz put the home side ahead before half-time and Carlos Bacca added to the lead early in the second half while Darko Brasanac pulled one back for 14th-place Leganés near the end.

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