Athletic Bilbao's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took a painful hit when the Basque club could only draw 0-0 at last-placed Almeria.
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The scoreless draw was a major disappointment, because Athletic played with a one-man advantage for most of the second half.
A win would have taken Athletic above Atletico Madrid into fourth place in La Liga, but Ernesto Valverde's team struggled against a defensive home side.
"We feel it's not enough because we had the ball for so much of the game," Athletic's Oscar de Marcos said.
"It's frustrating not to have more clear chances when the game was in our favour."
Missing top-scorer Gorka Goruzeta and in-form winger Nico Williams, Athletic played against 10 men after winger Largie Ramazani was sent off in the 53rd minute.
Raul Garcia hit the post for Athletic in what was his 600th league appearance, but the team's stuttering start to the year will concern Valverde.
After winning nine of their 11 games between the start of November and mid-January, Athletic have picked up only four of 12 points since.
Almeria, meanwhile, could celebrate what was just their seventh point of the season - all from draws.
The south coast club have not won a league match all season and have lost 17. They sit 13 points from safety.
The result means Athletic remain in fifth, two points behind Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid top the table, five points clear of Girona.
Australian Associated Press
