Barcelona kept their slim title hopes alive with a come-from-behind victory over fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao but did little to paper over the cracks of an increasingly difficult season.
The reigning champions appeared to be heading for a fourth straight defeat when Aritz Aduriz opened the scoring after Barca missed a host of chances.
But Pedro and Lionel Messi scored in the space of three minutes, securing a much-needed victory and narrowly escaping a furious reaction from increasingly disillusioned Barca fans.
For much of the game Barca were listless, their attacking play lacking any structure and Athletic will come away from this encounter they did not earn the points to further solidify their place in fourth.
The first clear chance fell to the visitors when Ander Herrera slid a pass into the run of Aduriz, who fired a low shot which Jose Manuel Pinto saved with his legs.
Messi came into the game under pressure after failing to score in each of his last three games, and the Argentine failed to take an early opportunity to dispel his personal gloom when he ran onto Pedro’s through only to be denied by visiting keeper Gorka Iraizoz.
Messi then had a goal rightly disallowed for offside after he ran onto a lofted pass from Andres Iniesta to stab home, before Adriano bounded forward from left back to strike a powerful shot which Balenziaga did well to divert over the crossbar.
Athletic were competing well and nearly took the lead with what would have been one of the goals of the season after half an hour, when leading scorer Aduriz unleashed a superbly acrobatic overhead kick which crashed against the right post. Pinto then reacted well to save with his left hand after Markel Susaeta pounced on the rebound.
The hosts responded by squandering a glorious opportunity to take the lead when Alexis Sanchez somehow contrived to hit the crossbar from just six yards out after being teed up by Pedro.
Considering the even nature of the first half it was no great surprise when Athletic took the lead early in the second period.
Muniain ran towards the edge of the box and the ball broke free to Aduriz, who eased his way into the box before calmly curling a low right-footed shot into the right corner.
Pedro and Messi both soon had chances to level the game but the former had his shot saved by Iraizoz and the latter saw his poor form continue as he dragged his low shot wide of the far post.
Barca’s poor finishing continued as Adriano mishit a volley and Messi headed straight at Iraizoz from a Sanchez cross, but they finally hit the target in fittingly scrappy fashion when Dani Alves cut inside, Sanchez mishit a shot towards goal and Pedro darted in to stab it past the Athletic goalkeeper.
Two minutes later Messi then stepped up to the mark after he was fouled on the edge of the box, rifling home the resulting free-kick with a fierce strike that Iraizoz perhaps should have saved.
Barca then survived a late scare as Mikel Rico ran onto an injury time cross but saw his shot brilliantly blocked by the stocky frame of Javier Mascherano.
