Antoine Griezmann’s classy finish five minutes from time dealt Real Madrid’s La Liga title chances a huge blow as Atletico Madrid rescued a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Pepe’s towering header early in the second half looked to have Madrid heading five points clear at the top.
However, Barcelona now have a third straight title back in their own hands after Griezmann rounded Keylor Navas to slot home at the near post.
“We know we are a strong team with an incredible mentality,” Griezmann told Spanish TV station Movistar.
“It is a draw but we’ve lost two points. Clearly we deserved all three points today,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.
“We played very well, but we lacked the second goal that would have allowed us to relax.”
Atletico had won their three previous league visits to the Bernabeu and enjoyed the brighter start as Saul Niguez was inches away from opening the scoring inside five minutes when his header from Koke’s cross flew just wide.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick separated the sides in a 30 Real win earlier this season and the World Player of the Year was first to threaten for the hosts as his near post drive was beaten away by Jan Oblak.