Barcelona moved into second place in LaLiga after beating Getafe 4-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Raphinha opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a fine breakaway goal, before Joao Felix, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez wrapped up a comfortable victory that moved Xavi a point above Girona, who play on Monday night.
Getafe created the first real opening when Mason Greenwood cut inside onto his left foot on the edge of the box and sent a low drive towards goal that was well saved by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Barca, who drew 1-1 with Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, took the lead in the 20th minute.
Raphinha ran onto a chipped pass behind the Getafe defense from right-back Jules Kounde and took the ball into space before sending a low shot into the bottom left corner.
The Brazilian then turned provider as his cross was almost turned over by Ilkay Gundogan, who just couldn’t connect.
Raphinha missed a chance to double Barca’s lead five minutes before half-time when he was again sent through on goal, but this time he collided with Joao Felix in the area for a square pass.
Getafe almost equalized before the break when defender Omar Alderete’s long-range strike saw Ter Stegen make an acrobatic save.
The visitors started the second half brightly, Luis Milla seeing his curling shot pushed onto the post by Ter Stegen.
However, Barca soon scored again in the 53rd minute.
Andreas Christensen was sent in from the right and his cross was swept back into the penalty area by Felix.
Before Getafe could regroup, Barca had the ball in the net with Roberto Lewandowski’s shot on the turn after being played in by Raphinha, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Barca got their third in the 61st minute.
De Jong pushed forward and exchanged passes with Raphinha before drilling the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.
With 15 minutes remaining, Getafe striker Borja Mayoral fired just wide before Barca added a fourth in stoppage time when Lopez tapped into an empty net after Vitor Roque’s effort was saved.
Barcelona player ratings
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 7/10 – Some great early passing and a handful of smart saves when needed.
RB: Jules Kounde – 8/10 – Great vision and a perfect pass to set up Raphinha’s opener. Always a threat going forward.
CB: Pau Cubarsi – 7/10 – Had the odd shaky moment but was largely in control of things. Wasn’t flustered by Getafe’s press.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 6/10 – Not the most convincing on this left side of defence but didn’t get a whole lot wrong either.
LB: Joao Cancelo – 6/10 – Some good moments but some frustrating decisions on the ball. A bit of a mixed showing.
DM: Frenkie de Jong – 8/10 – A slow start which saw him lose possession in some dangerous areas, but the Dutchman composed himself eventually. Did his best work defensively and even got in on the goals.
DM: Andreas Christensen – 7/10 – Played a box-to-box role which gave him the freedom to get forward and set up Felix for the second goal.
RM: Raphinha – 8/10 – A massive threat. Ended with a goal and an assist but mistakes actually prevented him from further boosting his stats.
AM: Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10 – Progressed play whenever he could. Was clearly trying to get forwards as much as possible.
LM: Joao Felix – 7/10 – Some smart flicks with those around him to exploit Getafe’s horrible defending. Got the goal his performance deserved after the break.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 7/10 – A selfless performance which saw Lewandowski dropping deep to occupy Getafe’s defenders, freeing up space for the teammates who actually had the speed to capitalise on the space behind.
SUB: Fermin Lopez (63′ for Felix) – 7/10
SUB: Vitor Roque (77′ for Raphinha) – 6/10
SUB: Oriol Romeu (77′ for Christensen) – 6/10
SUB: Hector Fort (83′ for Cancelo) – N/A
SUB: Pedri (83′ for Gundogan) – N/A
Leave a comment