Barcelona have the chance to move three points clear at the top of the La Liga table after being held to a 0-0 draw by Catalan rivals Espanyol on Saturday afternoon.

Neither side had a chance of note in what was a tense opening 20 minutes and the first real roar from the crowd did not occur until the 22nd minute, when Javier Mascherano and Alvaro Gonzalez were both booked following a clash inside the Barcelona box.

Alvaro came close with a header four minutes later, but his effort was saved by Claudio Bravo, who managed to push clear under pressure from the lively Felipe Caicedo.

Lionel Messi came the closest to opening the scoring in the first 45 minutes, but his free kick in the latter stages of the first period smashed off the top of the crossbar, before Andres Iniesta fired wide of the post in the 44th minute.

Neymar was the next player to come close early in the second period, but the Brazilian had a goal-bound effort blocked after strong work from Luis Suarez down the left.

Espanyol had a chance of their own in the 52nd minute, but Hernan Perez could only poke his effort wide of the post after breaking into the box, before Suarez hit the post for Barcelona three minutes later.

It was the visitors that continued to look the most likely as the game developed, but Espanyol remained a threat on the counter and Gerard Moreno threatened with a low strike late on.

Neither side could find a winner, however, as the points were shared in the Catalan derby, which is a result that will have gone down well with both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.