Barcelona beat Getafe 2-1, Dani Alves and Bojan with the goals; Real also win

Last night saw Barcelona beat Getafe 2-1 in a game that was much closer than the score line suggests. Dani Alves opened the scoring with a fantastic volley and Bojan made it two, before Manu pulled one back late on to set up a nervy finish.

Barcelona vs Getafe 2-1 - ALL GOALS & HIGHLIGHTS - 19-03-2011 (via FastestGoals)

Pick a number, any number.

Whatever number you’ve picked, Barcelona could’ve won by that.

This was a vintage performance by the Blaugrana, just without the goals to match. Sure, the chances were there, but because usually clinical players like Villa just didn’t have their shooting boots on, it was only 2 goals.

The game started slowly, with the makeshift Barca team giving starts to Milito, Mascherano and Bojan. The game was looking tepid, up until the 10^th minute that is. It was around that time that Messi sprung into life, with a ball over the top controlled beautifully by Messi, who tried a spectacular overhead kick that was blocked by Codina.

I only say blocked because there was no way Codina expected that.

More chances followed as Barcelona looked back to their absolute best but none of them were put away. Then the team that couldn’t hit the target did in the only way they know how.

By rendering everyone speechless.

A corner went in from the right that went all the way through to the edge of the box on the opposite side. A ball was sent in but cleared by a Getafe header. At least you thought so.

Around 25 yards out was Dani Alves who hit it with the outside of his right boot and it curved right into the top corner. On the half-volley. Anyone who has played football will know just how difficult this is.

It was a breath-taking goal by a break-taking side, and Getafe looked to be fearing a rout.

That never quite materialised though, as despite having about a million penalty appeals, the ref didn’t agree, and it stayed at 1-0. Codina made a bunch of good saves, someone got a goal-line block in too and Barcelona had to settle for a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

After the break Barca continued their dominance and soon after the restart they found themselves 2-0 up. Great play by Adriano to retrieve the ball started the move that ended up with Messi passing to Bojan, who courtesy of a huge deflection, found the net.

Bojan was standing in for Pedro and looks to have found his Ibra-benching form again, though if he’s not careful, it could be Villa or Pedro he benches. He was making great runs, and his understanding with Messi was brilliant. Welcome back Bojan!

On the subject of Messi, he played very well, but as far as I can remember, he only had 1 or 2 shots. He has hit a little bit of a scoring drought in the league, and hopefully the international break will rejuvenate him for the all-important game at El Madrigal.

This wasn’t the end of the action though, as Barcelona looked to play keep ball for the rest of the game. In the large part they succeeded, up until the 87^th minute that is.

Getafe sent a cross in from the right and it was met by a great volley by Manu Del Moral. Not quite as good as Dani’s but pretty spectacular too. This set up a finish far more nervy than necessary, and if Albin had a better touch, it could have been 2-2.

The defence was good for most of the game, but boy is Milito a liability. He was once again at fault for the goal and the sooner Puyol returns the better.

My pick for man of the match goes to Adriano, who didn’t score like Alves, but was great going forward, and made countless saves at the back including the last minute dispossession of Albin. While we all wish the best to Abidal in this tough time, at least we know that the left-back position remains solid.

And just a note, Iniesta is better than Ronaldo. By far.

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