BARCELONA, Spain – Barcelona made it 11 wins in their last 13 LaLiga home games with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Getafe on Saturday evening at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, though the visitors can still be pleased with their best points total at this stage of any season.
The game started in heavy rain which made the pitch slippery and gave some extra pace to passes from both teams. Barcelona controlled the ball from the start as expected, keeping Getafe pinned back for most of the early stages. The visitors was showing their usual gritty defending though and making life difficult for the home side.
Pedri had a good chance early on but Abdel Abqar made a brilliant last-ditch clearance to keep it out. But Barcelona didn’t have to wait long for the opener. A stunning pass from Raphinha and clever backheel from Dani Olmo put the ball on a plate for Ferran Torres, who guided it home with a nice finish.
Adrián Liso was causing some problems down the right for Getafe while Olmo kept getting involved to justify his place in the team. Around the half hour mark Robert Lewandowski nearly made it 2-0 but Pedri’s ball into the area was just a bit too quick for the Polish striker to get on the end of.
A few minutes later though Barcelona did get their second goal. A long ball forward caught Getafe’s defense sleeping and Raphinha’s pass gave Torres all the time and space he needed to finish low and accurately past David Soria. Torres now had his brace and Barcelona was in complete control.
Both Lewandowski and Olmo went close before halftime, with Torres also smashing a fierce shot against the crossbar that could of made it 3-0.
Getafe came out better in the second half and Javi Muñoz had a decent chance right at the start but fizzed his shot just wide of Joan García’s post. Then Domingos Duarte got a free header from a set piece that García had to gather safely.
As the hour mark approached Getafe was getting more into the game while Barcelona took their foot off the gas a bit. Olmo came closest to adding a third with a wicked free-kick that was always rising toward goal.
The third goal finally came when substitute Marcus Rashford made a great break down the left and cut the ball back for Olmo, whose low shot knocked the stuffing out of Getafe who had been trying to get back into the match.
To their credit Getafe kept competing and closing down loose balls, but Rashford’s pace was causing them all sorts of problems and helping Barcelona keep them at bay going forward.
With no more goals scored, Getafe headed back to Madrid still having never beaten Barcelona in LaLiga. They’ve now lost 18 and drawn four of their 22 meetings in Catalonia, which shows just how tough this fixture has always been for them.
