Barcelona make unwanted milestone as Getafe claim crucial draw
This has not happened since the final and first games of the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons against Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alavés respectively, adding to the growing unease surrounding Xavi’s side following a 4-0 Copa del Rey humbling to Real Madrid and a frustrating goalless draw with Girona in LL.
A few chinks are starting to appear in Barça’s domestic armour and those worries resurfaced again early on in the Spanish capital. Buoyed by a partisan crowd, the Azulones were quick out of the traps and were unlucky not to take the lead when Munir El Haddadi’s downward header went wide following some lovely link-up play involving Damián Suárez and Borja Mayoral.
The hosts’ direct tactics continued to cause Barcelona problems, and they squandered another glorious chance to break the deadlock when Enes Ünal headed over from Munir’s corner. However, the visitors looked to play Getafe at their own game when Marc-André ter Stegen’s hopeful long ball forward resulted in Raphinha and Alejandro Balde both hitting the woodwork in quick succession. As the first half came to a close, Getafe shot-stopper David Soria was forced into his first meaningful save after he comfortably caught Robert Lewandowski's header from a Sergio Busquets cross.
The crowd were becoming increasingly anxious after the break when Lewandowski headed wide again, this time from Jordi Alba’s delivery. Xavi was growing increasingly frustrated on the touchline, but a rare moment of inspiration from Raphinha subsequently led to his strike being pushed away by Soria.
However, a late onslaught on the Getafe goal failed to materialise and Barcelona’s lead at the top of LL is now 11 points following Real Madrid’s 2-0 win at Cádiz on Saturday. In fact, it could have been even worse had Mayoral capitalised on Ronald Araújo’s error, but his effort flashed wide. Overall, it may not have been pretty for Quique Sánchez Flores’s side, but they extended their unbeaten league run at home to five matches and move up to 15th - four points clear of the bottom three.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Borja Mayoral (Getafe)