Barca will have to wait

Barcelona missed a chance to stretch their advantage over chasing Real Madrid and virtually wrap up a third straight La Liga title when they surrendered the lead and lost 2-1 at Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Barcelona missed a chance to stretch their advantage over chasing Real Madrid and virtually wrap up a third straight La Liga title when they surrendered the lead and lost 2-1 at Real Sociedad on Saturday.

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With Madrid facing the task of overturning a 2-0 deficit in Tuesday's Champions League semifinal second leg at the Nou Camp, Real coach Jose Mourinho rested key players. His team, without top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo among others, was upset 3-2 at home by relegation-threatened Real Zaragoza.

Leaders Barca looked in good shape to open an 11-point lead over their archrivals with four games remaining when midfielder Thiago Alcantara opened the scoring in the 29th minute at mid-table Sociedad's Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian. But Diego Ifran pounced on a loose ball to equalise with les than 20 minutes left and Xabi Prieto netted from the spot in the 82nd after substitute Javier Mascherano conceded a penalty.

The result, only the second defeat of the season for Pep Guardiola's side, meant Barca just missed equalling Sociedad's record run of 32 La Liga games unbeaten in the 1979-80 season and leaves them on 88 points from 34 matches. Real, who beat Barca 1-0 to win a dramatic King's Cup final last week, have 80 points in second.

Flamini nets rare goal
Milan: Mathieu Flamini scored only his second ever Serie A goal to give AC Milan a nervous 1-0 win over Bologna on Sunday and put the Rossoneri within a point of the title. Milan, who almost conceded an equaliser in the second half, moved eight points clear of Inter Milan.