2024-09-26 09:12:30
Without the injured Marc-André ter Stegen, FC Barcelona won its league match against Getafe. Man of the evening was a former Bayern star.
Robert Lewandowski has scored FC Barcelona’s seventh win in seven league matches in the Spanish Primera División. The former Bayern striker scored the decisive 1-0 goal against bottom club Getafe in the 19th minute. Because Barça missed the chance to add a second goal, coach Hansi Flick’s team had to tremble until the end.
At the top of the table, FC Barcelona has restored the gap to reigning champions Real Madrid. The “Royals” won 3-2 against Alavés on Tuesday and moved within one point of Barça. Now, with 21 points, the Catalans are four points ahead of their arch-rivals.
The match against Getafe was also FC Barcelona’s first match without Marc-André ter Stegen. The German national goalkeeper tore his patellar tendon in the last league match and will be out for months. The match was therefore emotional. Ter Stegen’s teammates showed their support for the seriously injured 32-year-old with special T-shirts. “Stay strong captain” was written in Catalan on the players’ dark blue shirts as they walked onto the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.
With substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena in goal, Barça took control of the game against Getafe early on, which Robert Lewandowski used to take the lead after Getafe keeper David Soria failed to defend a cross. After that, the league leaders were unable to cope with the visitors’ solid defense for long stretches, and the few good chances they had were sometimes carelessly wasted. In injury time, Borja Mayoral (90.+4) missed a great chance to equalize on the other side.
The internationally experienced Szczęsny is returning from football retirement after terminating his contract with Italy’s record champions Juventus Turin just a few weeks ago and declaring his career over.