Barcelona: Three days after Barcelona ended Real Madrid's Copa del Rey title defence, the Spanish champions' own hopes of a fourth successive league title suffered a setback in a 0-0 draw at Villarreal on Saturday.
Barcelona's slip let Madrid move seven points clear of their fierce rivals on top of the standings just past the season's midway point, thanks to their earlier 3-1 comeback win over last-placed Zaragoza.
The Catalan side's troubles away from home, where they have dropped 13 of 30 points in play, compounded by an attack thinned by injuries took their toll at El Madrigal Stadium.
Jose Molina's side were impeccably organised throughout the match and frustrated Barcelona with their intense pressing of the ball and two banks of four positioned in front of the box, which proved too tough to break down for Pep Guardiola's outfit.
Lionel Messi missed with a chip shot early, and Cesc Fabregas hit the crossbar late in Barcelona's best scoring chances against a Villarreal side that did well to hold off the visitors' late surge.
"There are 18 games left to play, and I want to fight for every point just like we did here tonight," Barcelona coach Guardiola said. "Playing like this, we will have a good season. I have no reproaches for my players."
Guardiola patched together a front line of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Adriano, with the injured Andres Iniesta, Pedro Rodriguez, David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay all unavailable and Alexis Sanchez tagged as a reserve.
Villarreal pressed the European and world champions high up the pitch from the start, and the risky tactic almost cost the Yellow Submarines dearly in the 17th when Dani Alves' long pass left Messi alone with only the goalkeeper Diego Lopez to beat. But Messi, usually so precise in front of goal, sent his lob bouncing wide.
The hosts had more possession than most sides earn against Barcelona, and created a number of good chances in the first half to take the lead, the best of which came through a Marcos Senna strike in the 35th minute.
The Villarreal captain found space just outside the box to drive a wicked shot at the near post of Victor Valdes, only for the Barca goalkeeper turn the ball round the post with an outstanding save. From the resulting corner kick, the hosts thought they had taken the lead after Gonzalo Rodriguez nodded home from six yards, only for the referee to correctly rule the effort as offside.
Barcelona were very fortunate not to concede a penalty two minutes after half-time after Borja Valero nicked the ball past Sergio Busquets, only to have his leg clipped inside the area. The official waved play on, much to the anger of the El Madrigal crowd.
Alexis, who was a late inclusion in the squad after hurting his shoulder in Wednesday's elimination of Madrid in the Copa del Rey, went on as a substitute with half an hour to play.
Guardiola also sent on Thiago Alcantara and youth player Cristian Tello, and Tello showed some electric pace to get to the byline and reverse a pass to set up Fabregas at the edge of the area in the 79th, only to see his shot come off the woodwork.
Diego Lopez was the saviour for his side again when Messi had a chance to grab the win after he got through the defence in the 87th, but Lopez blocked his close-range strike with his feet, and Fabregas sent the rebound sailing over the bar.
"Seven points is an important advantage," Dani Alves said. "But I have seen bigger ones, so we have to keep looking ahead."
Elsewhere, Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick to give Athletic Bilbao a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano, while Espanyol edged 10-man Mallorca 1-0.
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