This time it wasn’t a gala, but three points were still earned: Barcelona narrowly defeated Getafe 1-0 on Wednesday in their first match following Ter Stegen’s absence. The Catalans thus remained flawless in La Liga.
Scored the goal of the evening: Robert Lewandowski.
IMAGO/Sports Press Photo
For FC Barcelona, the match against underdog Getafe was the first game without their number 1. Ter Stegen, the captain of the Catalans, had recently suffered a serious knee injury in the 5-1 defeat at Villarreal and is expected to be out for around eight months. It could therefore be that Barcelona will need to reinforce the goalkeeper position. On Wednesday, however, substitute Inaki Pena was in goal.
Lewandowski capitalizes on Soria’s mistake
Before the match, there was a nice gesture: The players of FC Barcelona walked onto the field wearing T-shirts with the inscription “Molta Forca Capita” (Stay strong Captain). The Catalans naturally wanted to win for Ter Stegen. At first, the home team was defensively challenged against a courageous Getafe, but Perez’s header was too central, allowing Inaki Pena to make the save (8th minute).
Barcelona approached the offense rather calmly, but then received help from guest keeper Soria: A Koundé cross was poorly parried forward by the goalkeeper, where Lewandowski was lurking and scored to make it 1-0 (19th minute). This put the Pole on seven goals in seven La Liga matches, and he even had the chance for a double, but he failed at a sharp angle against Soria (33rd minute).
Thus, it remained a narrow 1-0 lead for the Catalans at halftime.
Yamal misses 2-0 – Moyarol lets late equalizer slip
In the second half, the favorites had everything under control, and there was almost nothing left to see from Getafe in attack. The most dangerous player for the home side was Yamal. The Spaniard forced Getafe’s keeper Soria into a fantastic save with his curling shot (59th minute) and hit the upper edge of the crossbar a few minutes later (71st minute).
This time, the Catalans did not offer a spectacle; Raphinha headed the 2-0 opportunity just wide (82nd minute). That was all. It remained close until the final minutes – and Getafe nearly equalized late on, but Mayoral, unmarked from eleven meters, mishit the shot and missed a huge chance (90+4th minute). The Blaugrana managed to hold onto the 1-0 until the end and celebrated their seventh win in seven league games.
The team of Hansi Flick will continue on Saturday (9 PM) against Osasuna. Getafe will play on the same day at 2 PM against Alaves.