La Liga Table 2018 Week 26: Standings and Final Scores After Thursday

Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Las Palmas at the Estadio Gran Canaria in La Liga on Thursday night, with a controversial penalty decision defining the game.

Jonathan Calleri struck from the spot to equalise Lionel Messi's opener, ensuring Barca's lead at the top is now just five points after Atletico Madrid beat Leganes 4-0 on Wednesday.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Real Betis drew with Real Sociedad, while Alaves scored a late winner against Levante to send the latter closer to the threat of relegation.

Here are the results from tonight's matches:

• Real Betis 0-0 Real Sociedad
• Las Palmas 1-1 Barcelona
• Alaves 1-0 Levante

Here's what those results mean for the standings:

1. Barcelona: 66

2. Atletico Madrid: 61

3. Real Madrid: 51

4. Valencia: 50

5. Sevilla: 42

6. Villarreal: 41

7. Eibar: 38

8. Girona: 37

9. Betis: 37

10. Getafe: 36

11. Celta Vigo: 35

12. Athletic Bilbao: 32

13. Espanyol: 31

14. Alaves: 31

15. Real Sociedad: 30

16. Leganes: 30

17. Levante: 20

18. Las Palmas: 20

19. Deportivo La Coruna: 18

20. Malaga: 13

Full standings are available, per BBC Sport.

As they often do, Barca turned to Messi for magic. The prolific No. 10 answered the call by putting the visitors ahead with a superb free-kick.

It marked a first for Messi, despite his goalscoring dominance in the Spanish game, per Sky Sports Statto:

Finding the net from another free-kick gave Messi an extra distinction, according to OptaJoe:

Messi's goal was good for the lead at the break, but things changed two minutes after the restart when the referee deemed the ball had hit the hand of left-back Lucas Digne when it came back off the post.

Like many, Sid Lowe of the Guardian was left surprised and baffled by the penalty decision from referee Antonio Lahoz:

Earlier, Betis were held to a goalless draw at home by Sociedad, who went close late on through Asier Illarramendi. Sociedad generally had the better of the chances, with Sergio Canales causing problems for the hosts' defence.

The stalemate has somewhat stunted the progress Betis have been making on the watch of manager Quique Setien. However, Los Verdiblancos are still sitting comfortably near the foot of the top 10.

Later, Alaves left it late to see off Levante, who were reduced to 10 men after 29 minutes when Chema Rodriguez was shown a red card.

The numbers were evened up 13 minutes from time when Barcelona loanee Munir received a second yellow card after being adjudged to have dived.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

There was still time for the hosts to net the winner, though, with centre-back Victor Laguardia scoring in the 90th minute.

Alaves are now 11 points clear of the bottom three, while Levante are level on points with Las Palmas and in increasing danger of the drop.

Barca's dropped points are the main focus of the night, though, especially since they have opened up the title race. Atletico's case to beat the Blaugrana to top spot now looks a lot stronger.