Barcelona came from behind with Gerard Pique's late goal salvaging a 1-1 draw against Espanyol on Sunday, in a spiky Catalan derby on a waterlogged pitch in Cornella.
The Catalans maintained their unbeaten run in La Liga, stretching it to a club-record 22 games, thanks to Pique's 82nd minute intervention, heading home substitute Lionel Messi's free kick.
Positives
Stopping Espanyol from recording their second victory in a month over Barcelona, who had gone nearly a decade without suffering defeat against their local rivals. Messi had to play only a half hour in terrible conditions too, with Ernesto Valverde bringing him on from the bench.
Negatives
Samuel Umtiti, again one of Barcelona's most impressive performers, was booked and will miss the league match against Getafe. The team's inability to create clear openings when trailing was worrying.
Manager rating (out of 10)
7 -- Valverde was able to bench Messi, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto and still walk away from Cornella with a point. The coach will consider that a decent result because their cushion over their league rivals is such that it makes sense to rest players for the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg on Thursday at Valencia.
