Ernesto Valverde has praised his Barcelona side for not losing faith as the La Liga leaders fought back to draw 2-2 at Sevilla.

The hosts took the lead on 36 minutes through Franco Vazquez and doubled their advantage early in the second half via Luis Muriel.

Even though Sevilla had missed several chances to kill off the match, Luis Suarez set up a grandstand finish before substitute Lionel Messi slotted home a dramatic equaliser.

The draw saw Barca extend their unbeaten La Liga run to 37 matches and edged them closer to regaining the title.

"We took a chance, things were not going that well for us," Valverde said in an interview on the club's official website.

"In the first half, despite them creating chances, we also had some as well. It was fairly even, but they went into the break with an advantage and then scored a second just after half time.

"They had the chance then to play on the counter-attack and when they did that we had to come back, but you know what can happen.

"However, if you have faith you can keep playing. We were looking for the goal to get us back into the game, we did and then we got the second.

"If there had been five more minutes, I don't know what would have happened. This will be great for the spirit of the team because we know how important the game was to keep that run."

Up next for Barca is their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Roma at Camp Nou on Wednesday night.