MADRID, April 30-- Real Sociedad fought back from a goal down to defeat FC Barcelona 2-1 in the Anoeta stadium this Saturday night. Second half goals from Diego Ifran and Xabi Prieto overturned a first half goal from Thiago Alcantara to leave the Basque side close to mathematically avoiding relegation. Barcelona are still eight points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the BBVA Primera Liga table and can still be champions next week if they win at home to Espanyol while Madrid fail to win away to Sevilla. As Jose Mourinho had done with Real Madrid earlier in the day, Pep Guardiola rested key players ahead of the second leg of the Champions League on Tuesday. Jose Pinto played in goal, while youngsters Andreu Fontas, Jeffren Suarez, Thiago Alcantara and Martin Montoya in his starting 11. The sides kicked off in pouring rain, with the home side needing points to climb away from the relegation zone, while Barcelona know that a win would leave them needing just one point to confirm their third consecutive league title. The Catalans started brightly with Messi shooting wide and Ibrahima Affelay forcing a save from home keeper Claudio Bravo. Barca were forced into an early change when Montoya was forced off with what turned out to be a broken collarbone, to be replaced by Dani Alves. Thiago opened the scoring with a touch of fortune after 28 minutes. Messi' s control for once let him down, but the youngster' s run took him onto the ball and he was able to lift the ball over Bravo. |