Mark it down as another dominant performance from Xavi
There never is a good time to face Barcelona at Camp Nou. Nevertheless, Getafe would be hoping that the less-than-stellar—mildly controversial– performance that Guardiola’s men put in against Sporting Gijón last week would have put a tiny bit of doubt in the champions’ minds. Alas, that was the type of thinking often described as clutching at straws.
Barcelona, in characteristic fashion, was on the attack from the opening whistle. And it did not take long for their possession to yield a result. After two decent efforts from distance from Leo Messi and Xavi, a goal would come on 7 minutes. Off a corner, Yaya Touré would control the ball in the box, laying it back to Messi. His side-footed, bending strike would evade several defenders and land in the left corner. An outstanding effort.
The well-orchestrated Barça attack would continue, with Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic working a one-two that left Messi by himself against the keeper Míchel. But the Argentinean pushed his shot wide—which he would regret even more soon after, as the game soon take a dramatic turn.
25 minutes in, Gerard Piqué would be red-carded after a wild, dangerous challenge that would almost immediately result in a Getafe equalizer. The ensuing free kick would almost find Miguel Torres, but his lunge forward was out of reach and the ball rolled out of play just wide of goal.
Getafe would fail to exploit the man advantage—playing too centrally, allowing Barcelona’s defense to contain the minimal attacks El Geta could muster.
In fact, even a 10-man Barça proved to be a greater attacking threat. While struggling of late to find his own goals, Ibrahimovic would try to play the distributor’s role, chipping a cross toward the far right post for Xavi, but the midfielder’s header would be easily grabbed by Míchel.
Minutes later Messi would spring Ibrahimovic down the middle of the pitch. Maneuvering around the keeper, Ibrahimovic’s shot would be parried by a hard-running Rafa, who did well to recover to make the saving clearance with the keeper off his line.
In the early goings of the second half Roberto Soldado would manage his sole strong effort of the match for Getafe. Getting behind Gabriel Milito, the striker would receive a cross that he would quickly volley on goal—but Victor Valdés proved too agile.
Seydou Keita would have a golden opportunity to double Barça’s lead, the recipient of a hard-won ball from Andrés Iniesta. Keita’s first move was brilliant, cutting back toward the middle of the box to avoid Rafa. But his shot would taint the moment, as he sent the ball wide to his left.
However, on 67 minutes the match was more-or-less sealed for Barça. Xavi jumped rapidly into a counterattack after taking an outlet from Sergio. After sending his own pass onto to Messi, the two players crisscrossed in the middle of the pitch. Messi’s first attempt to pass back to the black-haired maestro bounced off Torres, but back onto the feet of Messi. Now moving to his right, he was able to finish his first thought—finding Xavi with loads of space and time to strike the ball into the short side of goal.
The remainder of the match would see Barca frustrate the forward advances of Getafe, who really struggled to find any means to win clear chances on goal.
In stoppage time Getafe would pull a goal back after Barça received a second red card, this time on Rafa Márquez. Kepa Blanco managed to get a fraction of space in front of Márquez with the ball bouncing in the box. Tangling legs with the forward, the Mexican was unfortunate to have the call go against him—but he was sent off and Getafe awarded a penalty kick.
Saldado would comfortably score from the spot—adding a goal to his impressive season tally despite having a poor performance overall on the evening.
Barcelona, with the win, now stand eight points ahead of Real Madrid, with Los Blancos playing later this evening.
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