Barcelona, ​​which was like a plane during the first two thirds of the League, traveled to Madrid by train. But Xavi’s team has long since lost its high speed. Instead of displaying passion like a motor and being hungry like gasoline, the leader of the League has set out to win the title with a yawn and bore his rivals and pursuers. Since the key men were injured, there is no game, there is no talent or success in the opposite area. Without a goal in the last three games, the most foreseeable thing is a zero draw considering that Ter Stegen, Zamora, defends his goal.
The German did not have any difficulties just like Lewandowski and the rest barely demanded David Soria and Getafe. Barcelona added a point that keeps Madrid at bay, at 11 points, but left a poor and worrying image. Far from seeing a group that is eager, alive and hungry, Barça has become civil servant. He has run out of gunpowder and the championship seems long, as the minutes and the games go by and he is unable to beat the goalkeepers.
It is not new. The Coliseum chokes the Blaugrana, a field where you have to hit the mark on the few occasions that you have because it is a field of much fighting and little showcasing. Barcelona is not there for great fanfare, which is why they have not won in Getafe since 2019. Hence, they considered the draw as good as last year.
For the second game, the coach sought new solutions and more imbalance up front with a winger. Just as Jordi Alba played the last quarter of an hour against Girona on the left wing, in Getafe it was Balde who started the game as 11.
A decision that left Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati in an unequivocally doubtful position, who remained on the bench despite the fact that Barça played with three forwards. Balde’s new position was not a panacea either, as he was barely able to get past Damián Suárez or surprise Quique Sánchez Flores’ home-brand five defense.
Xavi wanted Barcelona to generate more danger, to stir up the game. And he tried it with a tactical innovation with both sides. Sergi Roberto, on the right, and Alba, on the left, went ahead and became Busquets’ squires in organizing the plays. That allowed, or was intended to, Gavi and Kessié to take the worry out of drafting and focus on intimidation near the penalty area, where Getafe accumulated players like a Sunday market. The variant was orphaned when Sergi Roberto was injured. Xavi tried to keep the invention with Eric Garcia in that versatile position but after half an hour he decided to move to Koundé and be more classic.
There was still a third intervention by the coach, who ordered Ter Stegen to be taken long. At the top, Barça left the three forwards plus Gavi off the hook, forcing the locals not to raise the pressure too much. It was the only one of the modifications that gave revenue. On a powerful serve from the goalkeeper, Lewandowski stepped up to receive but instead of fighting for the ball, he ducked and threw the defense off track. Raphinha went into space and took advantage of the Pole’s smoke screen. The Brazilian lined up the goal and his shot went past Soria but crashed into the post. The rebound fell to Balde but the youth squad player, not very used to having such clear chances, did not hit the hole but his shot, with the goalkeeper rectifying, ended up on the same stick as Raphinha’s.
A double occasion that brought a game played at siesta time out of glanders. Before and after that, just crosses and headers from both teams. The two from Getafe did not even need Ter Stegen’s hands. Yes, he had to fly and catch Lewandowski’s head shot on the edge of the break.
The Pole was the first to try in a second half in which it seemed that Barcelona was forced to step up the accelerator and be more ambitious. The crossed header from nine did not find a goal.
However, the minutes passed and that step in front of the leader did not come no matter how much Xavi managed to gather eleven World Cup players on the pitch with the changes. That was not a guarantee of acquiring more light in the attack. Thus, with the blaugrana dry and off, Raphinha entrusted everything to his distant shot. Barcelona has gone 100 games and almost two years without scoring from a free kick and the Brazilian tried to undo the 0-0 with a couple of direct free kicks. The first one went high. The second, he kicked it from below, hit the barrier. On the third, which was not a foul, it did force Soria to clear for a corner. But little more. Very little danger for a Barça that wants to win the League.
What’s more, the points could all have come from Getafe but Borja Mayoral couldn’t successfully end a counterattack that caught Barcelona off guard.
0 – Getafe: Soria; Damián (Gastón Ãlvarez, m.83), Djené, Duarte, Alderete, Juan Iglesias (Portu, m.57); Maksimovic (Algobia, m.76), Milla, Munir (Aleñá, m.76); Borja Mayoral and Enes Ãœnal (Villar, m.83).
0 РBarcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (Eric Garcia, m.17), Araujo, Kound̩, Jordi Alba (Ferran Torres, m.68); Busquets, Kessie (Ansu Fati, m.68), Bucket; Leaf (Paul Tower, m.87), Lewandowski and Gavi.
Referee: Juan Luis Pulido Santana (Las Palmas Committee). He admonished Alderete (m.42) and Damián (57), from Getafe; and Gavi (2), from Barcelona.
Incidents: match corresponding to day 29 of LaLiga Santander played at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez before 14,854 spectators.
