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The game that was viewed by many as a mere formality proved to be just that as Getafe were unable to mount a historic comeback. Barcelona were led by Lionel Messi, who scored the only two goals of the game to set up the Quarter-Final clash with Levante. The encounter was marred by what appeared to be a serious injury to Neymar.
|
Getafe CF |
|
|
|
Possession |
32% |
68% |
|
Total Shots |
8 |
18 |
|
Shots on Target |
3 |
5 |
|
Pass Accuracy |
79% |
92% |
|
Corners |
4 |
5 |
|
Fouls |
13 |
9 |
|
Offsides |
2 |
0 |
|
Yellow Cards |
2 |
0 |
|
Red Cards |
0 |
0 |
Even though Barcelona held a very comfortable 4-0 advantage Gerardo Martino named a very strong line-up. The decision to start both Messi and Neymar was probably influenced by the duos lack of playing time this year. Dani Alves was also named to the starting eleven, probably because he's suspended for the La Liga game against Levante. With Sergio Busquets and Andres Inesta not traveling with the team and Xavi staying on the bench Barcelona started with a rarely seen midfield trio of Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Sergi Roberto.
Barça started the game strong with some brilliant passing between the Getafe lines and created a fantastic chance for Messi who couldn't convert the shot from the edge of penalty box. As in the first leg Getafe again relied on creating scoring chances on the counter attack, but the Barcelona back-line cleared the danger from open play with remarkable ease in the early going. Winning a header on set-pieces, however, remained a difficult task.
Barcelona's next opportunity to score the opening goal came ten minutes after Messi's chance, in the 14th minute, when Cristian Tello had a chance off a free kick, but he spoiled the good chance with a terrible shot. Three minutes later Messi took a free kick from a dangerous position, but he curled it straight into the reliable hands of Jordi Codina.
The best chance of the opening 20 minutes came quickly after that free kick - on the other side. Angel Lafita made a great run down the left side, which included getting past Marc Bartra, and crossing the ball to a wide open Pablo Sarabia in the middle. Sarabia nodded the ball on to another wide open teammate, Juan Rodriguez, who fired a first time shot on goal, but it was excellently saved by Jose Manuel Pinto.
On Barcelona's next attack Neymar was dribbling on the left side and while trying to make a diving pass he awkwardly twisted both his right ankle and the knee. Immediately it was obvious that Neymar was in serious pain and that a substitution will be needed. The Brazilian needed help getting to the dressing room, putting little to none pressure on the leg. Alexis Sanchez was brought on to replace the injured player. It was later confirmed that the ankle was the team's greatest concern, not the knee.
Ten minutes before the halftime whistle Getafe saw one of their men go down with an injury as Alexis Ruano appeared to have suffered a groin injury and had to be carried of the pitch.
The first part of the first half was dominated by likeable football and chances on both sides, but all of that was quickly forgotten after injuries struck both teams. Both sides struggled to get going after the injuries, with Barcelona needing about 15 minutes after Neymar went down to really start playing again. But then in quick succession a chance presented itself to Tello, then Alexis was caught between shooting and making a cross.
And then, in the 44th minute, Barcelona was at last able to get on the board. Tello received the ball from Cesc on the left side and sent a mid-high cross in front of the goal. There, covered by three defenders, Messi was able to get the delicate touch that was enough to direct the ball into the back of the net.
Going into the game Gatefe's task to overturn the result seemed insurmountable, but now the Madrid-based side would need to score six goals in the remaining 45 minutes while keeping the Catalan club from scoring.
It took Barcelona only five minutes of playing time in the second half to create their first chance. Messi, Alexis and Alves combined brilliantly to create the chance for Tello, but the young winger fired high and wide. That was the third shot of the game by Tello can only be described as terrible.
Over the next thirteen minutes both sides were able to carry the ball into dangerous positions, but neither was able to actually get a dangerous shot on goal. But that changed when Messi went on a truly magical run past four defenders and to cap it off flew past the goalkeeper to slot the ball into the empty net. It was a goal that surely would've made some Ballon d'Or voters change their vote, but to this point the voting deadline has not been extended. Immediately after the restart Messi was played behind the defense, but he was denied the hat-trick by Codina.
At this point you have to give Getafe a lot of credit for not giving up and just allow Barcelona to play keep-away and press to extend the lead. Getafe actually continued to make runs forward in search of a consolidation goal. Barcelona did continue to press forward, but they were unable to pressure for extended periods of time as Getafe took every available chance to carry the ball into Barcelona's half.
Tata Martino gave Cesc the last 20 minutes of the game to rest as he was replaced on the pitch by Xavi.
Getafe were nearly rewarded for their positive play in the 78th minute when Adrián Colunga took an off-balance shot inside the box, but Pinto was once again there to make the solid save.
The game settled down for the final phase of the game, but in the 85th minute Barcelona had two chances to extend the lead. First Messi was left one-on-one with Codina, but the goalkeeper was somehow again able to prevent the hat-trick goal. And from the ensuing corner kick Tello created some space for himself and fired from the edge of the box, but the ball whistled a few inches over the crossbar. That ended up being the last chance of the game as the referee whistled for full time the second the 90 minutes were up.
Up next for the Blaugrana is a preview of the Copa del Rey Quarter-Final match-up between FC Barcelona and Levante. The two clubs will meet three times in a span of ten days, with the first game coming in the La Liga on Sunday when Levante will host Barça at the Ciutat de València stadium.
