La Liga: Sevilla Throw Title Race Open Between Barcelona And Real Madrid

Barcelona may have to reach for their best to clinch the title for a back-to-back win otherwise Real Madrid are close enough to throw the quest under the bus after their goalless draw against Sevilla on Friday. 

Sevilla forced a point off the defending champions by holding them to a goalless draw despite attempts by Lionel Messi and Luiz Suarez to lead the side to victory. The Argentine's free-kick clipped the bar and his Uruguayan teammate's strike in the last minutes missed the goal by an inch. 

Sevilla also had their fair share of opportunity during the game as their loanee Sergio Reguilon had a wonderful chance to struck in the winning goal while unmarked in the box but aimed the shot at Barca's goalie Ter Stegen. That chance would have snatched the victory for Sevilla in the stoppage time.

Sharing points instead of gaining the maximum blew Barcelona's chance and opened the door to their arch-rivals Real Madrid who now need to win their game against Real Sociedad on Monday and level on points with them. Avoiding the same fate as Barcelona in their game against Sociedad will put Zinedine Zidane-led side on the path to winning the league title in his first full season after his reappointment as the head coach. 

Karim Benzema seemed to be in a good form after scoring a brace in Real's 3-0 win over Valencia on Thursday which made him the fifth high goalscoring player in the club's history. That victory put the pressure on Barcelona as they were trailed by just two points. 

Barcelona's next match will be at home against Athletic Club on Tuesday and the best result they would hope to get will be a win, anything lesser will further jeopardize their title defense.