Getafe is always a tough team to beat due to the intensity and defensive approach led by their coach, José Bordalás, and Barcelona were able to get the win thanks to two consecutive goals in the first half.
The visiting team started off with a man-to-man pressure system to hold Barcelona from making passes from behind at the same time as the visiting team looked to steal the ball forward. Barça tried to move the ball upper, but they couldn´t take over the game.
Therefore, Barcelona were not feeling comfortable and, moreover, Jordi Alba was forced to leave the field due to a new muscle injury. Junior Firpo substituted him on the left back. On the other hand, Barcelona´s keeper was unable to figure out a way to play from behind as Getafe were successfully cutting that off. This stage led to a loss by Sergio Busquets in the middle that Getafe´s striker Jorge Molina grabbed to drive towards Barcelona´s goal, but the play ended on a corner kick. And that throw translated into the first one for Getafe, but the referee blew the whistle to disallow the goal due to a fault by Getafe´s right back Nyom on Barcelona´s central defender Samuel Umtiti. Getafe were disarming Barcelona and a new chance by Cucurella provoked the first gasper from the fans.
Suddenly, Umtiti progressed into the opponent´s pitch, connected with Messi, and the Argentinian assisted Griezmann to put Barça aahead. And right after that, Setién´s squad put the second one in from a cross by Junior Firpo to kill Getafe psychologically. Barcelona´s number 10 was also close to score his right before haltime from an excellent cross by Griezmann, but his header was saved by Getafe´s goalie David Soria and Messi ended up the game without scoring for the fourth game in a row.
Despite the home team two goals, Getafe continued pressing Barcelona´s defense after halftime and they complicated them several times when Barça players had the ball on their feet. Getafe´s midfielder Arambarri had the first opportunity with a free kick that surpassed the wall but went slightly up. Messi noticed early Barcelona´s trouble to progress with the ball and he ran back to the middle to receive and open some space for his teammates, but either team was able to overcome the defensive lines until Getafe´s forward and Game Changer, Ángel, checked in. He volleyed a cross by Jaime Mata from the right to question Barcelona´s win as they were as uncomfortable as in the first half.
And Getafe were close to tie it up thanks to a cross by Arambarri from the left that once again Ángel, who could sign for Barcelona next week to replace long-term injured Dembélé, headed the ball towards Ter Stegen goal, but the German keeper saved it for Barça. On the opposite side, Ansu Fati created another clear one for Griezmann through a good run on the left, but the French was unable to finish.
The final result could go anywhere and Getafe forwards Ángel aand Jaime Molina had also a couple of opportunities, but Piqué held Brcelona to a new win while Getafe stayed alive until the end.
