Barcelona defeated Getafe 4-0 in a La Liga match on Saturday in a convincing way to grab the second spot in the points table with 57 points. Defending champion Barcelona leapfrogged Girona to claim second position after 26 games, trailing their arch-rival Real Madrid who lead the table with 62 points. Meanwhile, Getafe suffered its 8th loss in this season and currently at 10th position in the league table. Real Madrid is set to continue their unbeaten La Liga run to 20 matches as they are going to face Sevilla on Sunday.
Revitalized Barcelona under Xavi’s guidance displayed a dominant performance showing a good run of form. They remain unbeaten in the last five games across competitions, scoring 10 goals till date. Their last game against Napoli in the UEFA Champions league was a 1-1 draw.
On the other hand, the visitors entered this game on the back of a mixed run of form. With two wins, two draws and a loss in their last five games across the tournament, Getafe were struggling to make themselves stable. With a 1-1 draw against Villarreal in their last game which was also an away match, Getafe were looking to put in another composed performance away from home.
The hosts were badly in need of today’s victory as they are enduring a difficult season. They have been under tremendous pressure as their coach Xavi Hernandez announced that he was going to step down as manager at the end of the campaign.
In a half-empty Olympic stadium, the host started dominating from the beginning of the game and their first goal was scored by Raphinha in the 20th minute. From a quick corner, the Brazilian winger latched on to Jules Kounde’s long pass beating offside trap and kicked the ball past the opponent goalkeeper David Soria. Raphinha wasted another couple of similar opportunities in the first half.
On the half-volley from 30 yards, the Getafe center-back Alderete smashed it at the goal in the 41st minute and Marc-Andre ter Stegen had to move fast to his right to save it. Decent effort from a defender, that, but it would take a worldie to score from there.
With only 30% ball possession in the first half, Getafe still attempted six shots with three of those on the target. But they couldn’t defeat Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The visitors trailed 1-0 at half-time.
Luis Milla almost equalized in the 49th minute with a long-range strike. It, however, hit Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s right post. It went out for a corner. That was indeed a wake up call for Barcelona. But Getafe didn’t give up. They looked fired up, winning several 50-50 balls in midfield and pushed for the equalizer, perhaps because Jose Bordalas gave them a motivating speech in the changing room at half-time.
In the 53rd minute, flowing down the right with a deceptively simple move Christensen played a perfectly-weighted ball into the onrushing Joao Felix, who tapped it past the Getafe goalkeeper before extending the lead 2-0 in favor of Barcelona. Just 8 minutes later, De Jong struck from the edge of the box receiving a pass from Raphinha who just toed the ball past the Getafe goalkeeper Soria extending the lead 3-0.
Xavi substituted the Portuguese trickster Felix with Fermin Lopez in the 62nd minute.
In the 74th minute, Lopez turned on a shot on the edge of the box after playing 1-2 link-up from De Jong and Raphinha, but Soria collected it easily.
Roque’s shot was well saved by Getafe goalkeeper Soria in added time (90+1”) but Fermin Lopez tapped home the rebound to wrap up the comprehensive win for Barca.
Xavi, Barca’s head coach, expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance and said, “We knew which spaces to attack and opened them up on several occasions, and that’s where the goals came from. It’s a victory that gives us a little more peace of mind.”