Points shared

Barcelona 1-1 Villarreal

Barca began 2010 with a home draw against Villarreal in a game in which tactics played a big part. A competitive Villarreal drew level in the second half after Pedro had put Barca one up early on.

Pedro and David Fuster were on the score sheet at the Camp Nou, as the league leaders were held to a draw.

Pep Guardiola chose to rest Lionel Messi by not including him in the squad at all, while Jonathan Dos Santos earned a start, and Gabriel Milito made the bench. Nilmar led the line for Villarreal, with Joseba Liorente, Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Pires all substitutes.

Barcelona dominated the early stages, and it came as little surprise when they opened the scoring after just seven minutes. Some neat build-up play saw the ball find its way to Daniel Alves on the right, and the Brazilian’s cross was smashed onto the bar by Thierry Henry. Pedro, however, was alert to the rebound, and he fired home to give the Blaugrana the lead.

Barca continued to monopolise possession after taking the lead, and although they were not creating too many chances, they still looked by far the more likely team to score. On 25 minutes, Henry came close again, but his header was saved by Diego Lopez just before it crossed the line. Minutes later, the visitors had their first chance of the match, when David Fuster inexplicably headed Cani’s cross over from inches out.

Villarreal had the first chance of the second half, but Fuster once again blazed over, this time having been played through by Nilmar. However, he did not have to wait long to get another opportunity, and this time he made no mistake. Cani swung a ball in from the right, and Fuster was on hand at the far post to tuck it past a helpless Valdes.

“We knew this was the worst team for us to play at the start of the year, we all know Barcelona has won everything … and we’re very happy with the draw,” Fuster said. “I think our goal in the second half did them a lot of damage.

Barcelona leads with 40 points. Real Madrid is next with 37 and can go level at the top if it beats Osasuna on Sunday.