The Croatian opened the scoring and a cool penalty doubled the Catalans’ lead, but the home team fought back for a well-earned point thanks to Bakambu and Mathieu’s own goal.
La Liga leaders Barcelona threw away a two-goal lead as they failed to take full advantage of Atletico Madrid’s slip-up, drawing 2-2 at Villarreal on Sunday.
With Atletico suffering a surprise 2-1 defeat to Sporting Gijon on Saturday, Barca had the chance to stretch their advantage at the top to 11 points.
And Luis Enrique’s side looked to be in pole position to do just that as Ivan Rakitic’s fifth league goal of the season put them ahead before Neymar doubled the lead in contentious fashion.
After Villarreal coach Marcelino had been sent to the stands, Neymar made it 2-0 with a chipped penalty, putting their recent woes from the spot to rest following a seemingly harsh decision to punish goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo for a foul on the forward.
But Luis Enrique’s decision to take off Gerard Pique and Arda Turan early in the second half proved pivotal as Barca struggled to reorganise at the back.
Cedric Bakambu took advantage by netting from close range in the 57th minute, with the comeback completed six minutes later when Pique’s replacement Jeremy Mathieu bundled into his own net. [Goal]