Barcelona remain four points clear at the top of La Liga after drawing with a resurgent Valencia - although it could have been so much more if goal line technology existed and a goal that should have been awarded wasn't ruled out.
Longer term though, Barcelona can rest a little bit easier with the news that Lionel Messi has signed a new contract agreed six months ago that will take him to 2021, superseding the previous one that had been due to run out at the end of the season and also putting the buy out clause into an unreachable stratosphere.
"There was a lot of talk about Manchester City obviously with the Pep Guardiola link," BBC Spanish football writer Andy West on the speculation that had been swirling pre-signing.
"And PSG as well with the money. But it was more City to be honest and imagine Messi going on a free transfer! So it was an increasing story. The club (Barcelona) insisted throughout that it was sorted, that there was no problem.
"So now, finally he has signed and we'll probably never know if he was stringing them along, if he was really thinking about leaving. But the main thing now is that he is staying and he showed his value with the incredible pass to Jordi Alba for the equaliser yesterday.
"And really, after Iniesta faded and had to be substituted, Messi was the only one with any creativity in that team and they depend on him so much at the moment."
That over-dependence on Messi is not new but what happens if he is absent, especially with Luis Suarez out of form, Ousmane Dembele injured and Neymar at PSG.
"If he got injured, you really think they'd be lost because there's no creativity in that team. The way they play is predictable," said West.
"Course it doesn't help that Luis Suarez is out of form. And it was interesting before the game, you may have seen quotes from Messi saying, 'Neymar leaving has made us more balanced but we've lost a lot of offensive firepower' and he's right on both counts. We saw that absolutely yesterday [against Valencia]."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
