For the purposes of the inventory for any leader, including Barcelona, there are matches that simply need to be finished off, gruelling half-time matches against difficult opponents in which victory is taken for granted, days when it is enough for the usual opportunistic striker to appear to score the winning goal, guys like Lewandowski for example. The obligatory goal from the Pole was the most recognisable play of a Barça that lost charm and aim, unhinged by the permissiveness of the referee and Getafe’s contact football.
1
Iñaki Peña, Pau Cubarsí (Héctor Fort, min. 87), Jules Koundé, Alejandro Balde (Gerard Martín, min. 87), Iñigo Martínez, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Eric García, Marc Casado, Pablo Torre (Ferran Torres, min. 62) and Robert Lewandowski (Pedri, min. 76)
0
David Soria, Omar Alderete, Juan Iglesias, Djené Dakonam (Diego Rico, min. 86), Juan Berrocal, Carles Aleñá (Borja Mayoral, min. 62), Álex Sola (Abdoulaye Keita, min. 62), Luis Milla, Yellu Santiago (Mauro Arambarri, min. 62), Carles Pérez and Christantus Uche (Bertug Yildirim, min. 79)
Goals
1-0 min. 18: Lewandowski
Referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes
Yellow cards Arambarri (min. 68), Raphinha (min. 78)
There were no goals, but the result was in limbo until a final play in Peña’s area. Borja Mayoral shot into the air when the Barcelona fans were already covering their eyes to avoid seeing the 1-1. Bordalás’ team, second from bottom of the league and with only three goals, all from set pieces, did not stop bothering them and signed a deserved defeat, as is their custom when they visit Barcelona, a very vigorous team with a winning dynamic, also on the Montjuïc mountain.
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Although the demands are great and the squad is short, Flick rarely changes the line-up, perhaps so as not to break the harmony and fluidity of the game and, of course, to maintain the streak from the start of the League: seven wins and a full 21 points. The only novelty in the match against Getafe was the substitution of Pedri and the continuity of Pablo Torre. Iñaki Peña’s starting position was taken for granted since he replaced the injured Ter Stegen in Villarreal. It was not a simple change of goalkeeper due to the difference between the German and the Alicante native, but he also knows that the club is negotiating with Szczesny. Peña’s presence could therefore condition the football of a team accustomed to playing without a rear-view mirror, always oriented towards the opponent’s goal, never towards its own, less so in Montjuïc, where tourists come in large numbers, eager to see and applaud Lamine’s team.
The winger was slow to appear and, as if by chance, the game started and ended in Peña’s area. The goalkeeper not only had to accompany the play from the start but also blocked a ball on the goal line after a header by the ex-Barça player Carles Pérez after a cross from Alex Sola. Barça was playing surprisingly very loosely, without rhythm or control, out of position in Peña’s area. It even seemed that they would not attack without first gaining defensive security after the replacement for Ter Stegen settled in. Lamine came on after a quarter of an hour, after a move started by Peña, and which ended with a cross from Koundé. David Soria did not manage to block the ball and Lewandowski easily scored his seventh goal in the League. One shot and a goal on Barça’s account. The goal calmed a team that was increasingly settled by the good management of Marc Casadó.
Getafe began to defend very close to their area and Barça struggled to create opportunities, lacking speed and finesse, despite the efforts of Eric and Casadó. Faced with the difficulty in developing the game, less vertical than usual, the blaugranas accelerated in the transitions, finally resolved by tactical fouls by Bordalás’s boys. Getafe’s cloying and rough football prevented the ball from running, the thread of the pass from being clean, the play from having continuity and the forwards from finishing the plays. Until Lamine appeared with a curled shot and demanded an excellent save from Soria, who was even more clumsy after a bad tackle on Lewandowski. Although no one was looking at Peña, Barça’s second goal was not coming and Flick refreshed the team with Ferran in place of an intermittent Pablo Torre.
The changes, conditioned by the need to refresh the team and by the uncertainty of the match, did not improve Barça’s outlook either. Raphinha and Lamine’s attacks and shots followed one another without either finding Soria’s goal. The lack of forcefulness allowed Getafe to stop committing fouls and attack Peña. The suspense continued until Mayoral’s mistake, who is not exactly Lewandowski, was decisive for Barça’s luck.
