Lionel Messi struck twice for Barcelona at Eibar on Sunday, but the champions were held to a draw at Ipurua in La Liga’s last fixture of the season.
Winger Marc Cucurella, on loan from Barca, gave Eibar the lead after 20 minutes when he was teed up by Sergi Enrich and slotted a low shot under Jasper Cillessen.
The Dutch goalkeeper was in for the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho were also sidelined for this one.
That meant a rare start for Malcom, but it was Messi who got Barca back in it, the Argentine slotting past Marko Dmitrovic at the goalkeeper’s near post after a lovely pass by Arturo Vidal with 31 minutes gone.
And the 31-year-old added another a minute later as he raced clear and beat Dmitrovic with an exquisite chip.
There was a lengthy delay as Eibar protested a supposed foul on Enrich and the goal was checked by VAR, but it stood and that leaves Messi four clear (on 36 league goals) of Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, who still has one game left to play in Ligue 1, in the race for the European Golden Shoe.
Eibar struggled to recover from that double blow, having started the game so well, but Argentine midfielder Pablo De Blasis levelled on the stroke of half time following a mistake by Cillessen.
The Dutchman, who will leave Barca this summer, came off his line to head a ball clear, but it fell to De Blasis and the Argentine hit a superb volley which the backtracking goalkeeper was unable to reach.
Gerard Pique forced Dmitrovic into a fine save in the second half as he got forward and sent in a low shot from the right side of the penalty area, while Malcom was guilty of a poor miss when he fired wide with an effort which was neither a shot nor a cross in the end.
At the other end, Cucurella blasted high and wide when he should have scored with nine minutes remaining.
Barca also handed a debut to striker Carles Perez late in the game and the 2-2 saw the Catalans conclude the season 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table. Eibar, meanwhile, finish in a respectable 12th position.
