Clos Gomez delayed the start of the match for almost a quarter of an hour, harshly sent off Pep Guardiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and incorrectly awarded a free-kick to Barcelona which led to their first equaliser.

Domingo Cisma had put Almeria ahead after 12 minutes, with the home side's second coming 12 minutes into the second period via a Carles Puyol own-goal.

But Lionel Messi's double gave 10-man Barca a point.

The game started almost 15 minutes late as the referee was unhappy with Almeria's shirts, which showed a message of support for Chile following the recent earthquake and tsunami.

Almeria claimed they had already received permission to play with the message on their shirts, which read "Fuerza Chile" ("Go Chile").

And after Spain's Professional Football League (LFP) gave the go-ahead and a minute's silence was respected by the two teams, the match finally got under way.

Guardiola's side dominated early on and had several decent chances in the first 10 minutes.

Andres Iniesta and Xavi both came close, while Hernan Pellerano cleared a dangerous Pedro cross as Ibrahimovic sought to pounce.

But Almeria took the lead against the run of play after 12 minutes when Domingo Cisma got ahead of Puyol and beat Victor Valdes with a header from a corner.

Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves then kept his side in front with a neat save from Xavi's free-kick after 20 minutes.

Pedro and Ibrahimovic both missed good chances for Barca after that, but Puyol also saved his side with a vital clearance at the other end.

Guardiola was then sent to the stands for protesting the referee's decision not to award a penalty to Messi.

The Barca coach was animated in his protests, but a red card was hardly necessary.

Ibrahimovic fizzed a left-footed drive over the bar after half an hour as Barca continued to press for an equaliser.

It finally came three minutes before half-time, albeit in controversial circumstances.

Bernadello was adjudged to have fouled Ibrahimovic and Barca won a free-kick.

The decision looked incorrect, but Messi made the most of the opportunity as he beat Alves with an exquisite free-kick.

Almeria started brightly after the break and Valdes had to be alert to palm away a dangerous Guilherme cross 10 minutes into the second period.

Two minutes later, the Brazilian sent another dangerous cross into the box, this time aimed at Pablo Piatti, and Puyol inadvertently poked the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear.

And things soon got worse for the visitors as Ibrahimovic was sent off for striking out at Cisma.

The Sweden striker only touched his rival's face, but Cisma went tumbling theatrically to the ground and the referee wasted no time in brandishing his second red card of the night.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Barca got back into the game almost straight away.

Messi was the man again, this time finishing from close range after Guilherme had failed to clear Pedro's cross.

There were chances for both sides after that.

Xavi and Messi both came close for Barca, while Kalu Uche and Fernando Soriano threatened for Almeria, but the game ended all square.

end