Barcelona put pressure on Real Madrid as they punish Getafe in thrashing
Barca were hoping to build on their improvement in form and knew that a victory would increase the pressure on Girona who are yet to play this Gameweek. Having failed to keep a clean sheet for a fourth game running in their 1-1 draw against Napoli midweek, Xavi would have wanted his side to take the opportunity to achieve a shutout against strugglers Getafe.
As expected, the hosts dominated right from the off, controlling over two-thirds of possession, but without actually threatening David Soria in the Getafe goal. It took until the 20th minute for the hosts to create a real chance on goal but the Catalan outfit made it count.
Jules Kounde sent Raphinha racing through on goal and the Brazilian, who was making his first start in over a month due to injury, showed no signs of rustiness and poked the ball home.
Blaugrana continued to dominate throughout the remainder of the half but the Azulones were not without their own chances as Borja Mayoral was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as Xavi’s men went into the break with their lead intact.
Barca came out after the restart with intent and doubled their lead within 10 minutes as Raphinha continued his superb performance as he slipped Anders Christensen through and the Dane unselfishly squared to Joao Felix to tap into an empty net.
Raphinha was having a comeback to remember as he influenced a third goal, racing through, rounded Soria and squared the ball to Frenkie de Jong to net for the first time since August.
Three goals to the good, Xavi’s side strolled through the final half-hour with little to no threat from an underwhelming Getafe team. Fermín Lopez came on to add gloss to the scoreline with a fourth goal in stoppage time, and compel the Azulones to a sixth straight defeat away to Barcelona.
The Blaugrana sit in second place ahead of Girona’s match against Rayo Vallecano on Monday, but a positive run of form has seen reigning champions Barca give themselves a vague shout of retaining their La Liga title.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Raphinha (Barcelona)
Read all the match stats here.
