Espanyol put brakes on free scoring Barcelona

Barcelona missed the chance to open up a three-point lead at the top of La Liga as they were held 0-0 by local rivals Espanyol in a heated Catalan derby on Saturday.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez hit the woodwork either side of half-time for the visitors, but Espanyol's physical approach was rewarded with a first point against Barca in eight matches.

Atletico Madrid can leapfrog Barca to the top of the table with victory over Levante later on Saturday, whilst Real Madrid now trail the European champions by three points ahead of their trip to Valencia on Sunday.

The first of three meetings between the sides in 10 days got off to a frenetic start with Espanyol forcing Barca onto the backfoot.

Their best chance came from a set-piece, though, when Alvaro Gonzalez's header was brilliantly stopped by Claudio Bravo and Gerard Pique hooked the ball to safety off the line.

Barca's star front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar combined for 137 of a record 180 goals in 2015, but they didn't come to life until midway through the first half when Neymar's dangerous cross fell just behind Suarez.

Messi then struck the angle of post and bar with an almost perfect free-kick as Barca began to take control just before the break.

However, Espanyol had another chance to take a shock lead seven minutes into the second period when Hernan Perez poked a shot just wide after a lung-bursting run into the Barca box.

The hosts had another slice of luck when Suarez could only strike the outside of the post after rounding Pau Lopez and turning away from Gonzalez moments later.

Messi should have done better when he fired straight at Lopez when well placed on the edge of the area and the Espanyol 'keeper made another comfortable save from Neymar's acrobatic effort as they restricted Barca to surprisingly few clear openings in the final stages.

And the closest they came to a dramatic winner was another vicious Messi free-kick from long rage that dipped inches wide of the target a minute from time as Barca failed to score for the first time in La Liga this season.
Source: AFP