Real Madrid extended their winless streak to three matches after being held to a 2-2 draw at Elche on Sunday, despite twice coming from behind in a tense La Liga encounter that further tightened the title race.

Xabi Alonso’s side, who had led Barcelona by five points just two rounds ago, now see their advantage reduced to a single point after dropping two more valuable points on the road. The Catalans routed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 on Saturday in their return to the renovated Camp Nou Stadium.

Elche opened the scoring in the 53rd minute through Aleix Febas, finishing off a sharp passing move with a low tap-in past Thibaut Courtois. Real equalised in the 78th minute when Dean Huijsen fired home from close range after a corner fell inside the box.

But the home side struck again in the 84th minute. Álvaro Rodríguez unleashed a powerful effort from outside the area to restore Elche’s lead and put Madrid under pressure once more.

Three minutes later, Jude Bellingham rescued the visitors for a second time. His initial effort was parried by goalkeeper Iñaki Peña, but Kylian Mbappé recovered the rebound and squared the ball back for the England midfielder, who converted at the second attempt to secure Real’s second equaliser of the night.

The Spanish goalkeeper suffered a nose injury during the sequence but continued after receiving brief treatment.

In a match filled with missed chances, Elche had the first major opportunity in the 17th minute when Rafa Mir was denied by Courtois from close range. Mbappé later squandered two promising openings for Madrid, and Rodrygo forced a strong save from Peña early in the second half.

Real entered the match having beaten Valencia 4-0 earlier this month but followed that result with a 1-0 Champions League loss at Liverpool and a 0-0 La Liga draw with Rayo Vallecano, and extended their winless streak to three matches.

After 13 matches, Real sit top of the league on 32 points, with Barcelona close behind on 31.

Xabi Alonso’s men will host Olympiakos in the Champions League on Wednesday to seek a return to winning ways.