Suarez rescued Barca with a goal in the 90th minute.

The Catalan team secured a 1-1 draw when they visited Betis' stadium in the 20th round of La Liga.

Goals: Alegria 75' - Suarez 90'

Luis Suarez scored the equalizer, making it 1-1, from a pass by Messi. This goal saved Barca from defeat with only a few minutes of added time remaining.

Earlier, in the 75th minute, Betis took the lead thanks to a shot from Alex Alegria. The home team also created several other dangerous attacks towards Barca's goal, with Dani Ceballos and Ruben Castro both having shots that hit goalkeeper Ter Stegen's post.

After Betis took the lead, Barca were denied a legitimate goal. In this instance, Andre Gomes shot towards goal before Aissa Mandi cleared it. The referee emphatically refused to award the goal, while video replays showed the ball had crossed the goal line by half a meter.

The situation where the referee disallowed a goal for Barca.

The match against Betis took place just two days after Barca defeated Sociedad in the Copa del Rey. The lack of recovery time and the need to travel to the opponent's stadium may have negatively impacted the fitness and morale of Luis Enrique's team. For over 90 minutes, Barca maintained control but lacked their best creative inspiration.

Meanwhile, with the advantage of a week's rest due to not playing in the Copa del Rey, Betis showed a clear physical superiority. The home team had less possession (41-59%) but launched more attacks with seven shots. Barca had five shots, only two of which were on target.

Betis (wearing blue and white striped shirts) made good use of their home advantage and physical condition.

With the draw against Betis, Barca missed the opportunity to overtake Real in the standings. The defending champions now have 42 points after 20 matches, while Real have 43 points and have played two fewer games.

If Real Madrid beat Sociedad in the late match, they will widen the gap with Barca. Sevilla will also create a greater gap for Enrique's team if they beat Espanyol.

For Barca, the few positive things in the match against Betis were not losing and Suarez scoring another goal. Suarez now has a total of 16 goals since the start of the 2016-2017 La Liga season, thus leading the race for the top scorer award as well as the European Golden Boot.

Suarez (right) is aiming for his second consecutive La Liga top scorer title. Photo: Reuters

Messi is currently second in the race with 15 goals. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo is behind with 12 goals.

According to VNE