Barca dent Getafe’s Champions League hopes, Real lose again

Barcelona bounced back from their Champions League collapse to Liverpool by claiming a win, albeit an unconvincing one, at home to European hopefuls Getafe.

Ernesto Valverde would have wanted an emphatic response from his players to ease the building pressure after the midweek calamity at Anfield, but what he got was an effective, but somewhat insipid display against a Getafe side who spurned opportunities to claim something.

Arturo Vidal broke the deadlock just before the half hour mark, finishing on the rebound after a Gerard Pique header from a Lionel Messi free-kick was saved. Jorge Molina was presented with a couple of golden chances, but couldn’t take them.

The points were made sure of late on, with Dakonam Djene prodding into his own net in an attempt to prevent Messi from scoring. This result hits Getafe’s Champions League chances hard, with the side from the Madrid suburbs dropping out of the top four.

Elsewhere, Barcelona rivals Real Madrid suffered another difficult evening, losing 3-1 to Real Sociedad at the Anoeta, their 11th defeat of the 2018/19 Spanish Liga season.

Once considered the most consistent of Barcelona’s stalwarts, Sergio Busquets has been a shadow of his former self in recent weeks. This performance, which saw the midfielder give the ball away cheaply in his own half numerous times, wasn’t an isolated case. Indeed, Busquets was partly at fault for the Champions League collapse to Liverpool at Anfield. It could just be that he needs a rest. At least, that’s what Valverde will be hoping.

It can be difficult to sum up what Vidal has brought to Barcelona since signing from Bayern Munich last summer. At times, the Chilean has looked out of place. He is criticised for not being an archetypal Barca player. However, he has given them a goal threat from midfield and he illustrated that by scoring the match opener for the Catalans, following a rebound from Gerard Pique. Vidal has stepped into the Paulinho void.

Barcelona: Cillessen 5, Pique 6, Alba 6, Umtiti 5, Vidal 8, Rakitic 5, Busquets 4, Roberto 7, Coutinho 5, Messi 7, Malcom 5. Subs: Alena 5, Semedo 6, Ruiz 6.

Getafe: Soria 7, Suarez 5, Foulquier 6, Dakonam 5, Cabrera 5, Olivera 5, Shibasaki 5, Arambarri 5, Maksimovic 6, Rodriguez 6, Molina 7. Subs: Duro 5, Portillo 5, Saiz 5.

28’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... NO! Getafe thought they had scored, with Molina finishing after being played through by Foulquier. But he was JUST offside when the pass was played! It's chalked off.

39’ GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Getafe: Barcelona might not deserve it, but they have the lead! Pique flicked on a Messi freekick into the penalty area, Soria made the save, but only succeeded in palming the ball out to Vidal, who made no mistake in finishing into the empty net from yards out.

59’ Messi was through! It's not often that the Barcelona number 10 is thwarted by a goalkeeper! Messi was played through by Vidal, but Soria came out to make the close range save. He anticipated the chip.

89’ Off the crossbar! So close to being an equaliser for Getafe! The ball was played to the back post, Angel then headed back across goal, Molina got his head to it, but crashes his effort off the woodwork!

90’ GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Getafe: That will be the points secured for Barcelona! At first, it looked like a Messi goal after being played through by Roberto, but replays show that the ball might have been prodded into the net by Arambarri. That might go down as an own goal.

Arturo Vidal has been directly involved in nine La Liga goals this season (three scored and six assisted), more than any other Barcelona midfielder.