Barcelona missed the chance to equal the best start to a Spanish soccer league season as they dropped their first points of the campaign on Saturday in a 0-0 draw at Osasuna.
With Lionel Messi back from a thigh strain but on the bench, the visitors failed to make the most of their dominance in the first half with Marc Bartra's wayward header their only serious effort on goal.
Neymar and Cesc Fabregas passed up great chances to put Barca in front at the beginning of the second period before Messi was introduced for the final quarter.
However, the Argentine couldn't open the door as Osasuna stood firm to prevent Barca scoring in the league for the first time since January 2012.
"With the performance of the team and the chances we had, normally it would be enough for Barcelona to win but today it wasn't to be," lamented Barca coach Gerardo Martino.
"I am very calm with the performance of the team, especially because Osasuna is a team that can cause damage in their stadium and we didn't suffer at all defensively."
Martino gave a surprise start to captain Carles Puyol after seven months out due to knee surgery.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad defeated Valencia 2-1, while a point was enough though to put Barcelona top of the table as Atletico Madrid also lost their 100 per cent record with a 1-0 defeat at Espanyol.
Thibaut Courtois' own goal 10 minutes after the break handed Javier Aguirre's side the three points against his old club to leave Atletico a point adrift of Barca in second place.
Real Madrid cut the gap on the leaders to three points with a routine 2-0 win over Malaga.
Gareth Bale returned for Los Blancos as a late substitute and won the penalty which Cristiano Ronaldo converted to seal the points after Angel di Maria had given Madrid the lead.
"The game today was good, I liked the attitude of the team. We defended well, were more aggressive and compact," said Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Bale had been kept in reserve due to lack of match practice, but Ancelotti believes he will be ready to start on Wednesday in the Champions League when Juventus visit.
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