Athletic Bilbao saw their European aspirations dented slightly as they came up against an inspired goalkeeper at Sporting Gijon.

An Athletic win in Gijon would have seen the Basques go level on points with fifth-placed Mallorca, who lost 3-0 at Getafe earlier on this evening.

But Sporting keeper Juan Pablo Colinas was at the top of his game, denying the visitors with a string of superb saves, the best of which was from a penalty to deny Igor Gabilondo after 58 minutes.

Athletic began the day in seventh, just a point behind the European places.

And with the fourth, fifth and sixth-placed sides, Sevilla, Mallorca and Deportivo La Coruna, also in action on Saturday, it made for an interesting night's entertainment ahead of the Barcelona and Real Madrid matches on Sunday.

Mallorca were first off, slipping to a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Getafe.

That meant Athletic could draw level with the islanders with a win here, while Deportivo were in action later on against Sevilla.

Sporting began the day in mid-table, only nine points worse off than Athletic.

The Asturians are enjoying a positive campaign in their second season back in the top-flight and are particularly hard to beat at home.

And they started brightly in this match, going close through David Barral and Diego Castro in the opening 10 minutes.

But after that, it was all Athletic.

Gabilondo blasted over the crossbar, while Fernando Llorente was just off target before the break and Juan Pablo produced a fine save to keep out Javi Martinez's stinging drive.

And with half-time approaching, Markel Susaeta and Javi Martinez both went close again as Athletic sought a psychological boost before the interval.

The Basques had dominated virtually the entire first half, even though Sporting had started the better.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with the locals on top early on.

Alberto Botia drilled an angled drive wide of the target just four minutes into the second period, while Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz was forced to make his first telling intervention as he dove to save at full-stretch from Jose Angel Valdes moments later.

Athletic were soon back on top, though, and Gaizka Toquero headed into the side netting after 55 minutes.

Three minutes later, the visitors had a glorious opportunity to take the lead, when Jose Angel brought down Toquero and the referee awarded a penalty.

But Gabilondo's spot-kick was too close to Juan Pablo, who made a fine save to thwart the Basques.

The former Numancia keeper was a thorn in the visitors' side and produced another brilliant reaction save to keep out a Fernando Llorente header halfway through the half.

Javi Martinez and Iker Muniain also missed good chances for Athletic in the closing stages, although Sporting came close as well, when Diego Castro's effort was hacked off the line by Carlos Gurpegi.

In the end, a point is a decent result for both sides, but Athletic will come away thinking it could have been more.