Barça's winning run ends with 1-1 draw at Gijón

Barcelona's record La Liga run of 16 straight victories fizzled to a frustrating end when the league leaders had to fight back from a goal down to rescue a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijón.

Poor defending from Gerard Piqué and Gabriel Milito let Gijón striker David Barral in to score in the 16th minute at the Molinon before David Villa equalised against his former club with an exquisite chip 10 minutes from time.

The champions spent almost the entire match in the Gijón half but were thwarted time and again by the home side's resolute defence and not even World Player of the Year and joint La Liga top scorer Lionel Messi could find a way through.

The draw gives second-placed Real Madrid a chance to cut Barça's lead to five points with a win at Espanyol on Sunday.