La Liga: Barcelona thrash Getafe 6-0 as Messi records a hat-trick of assists
Barcelona played some exquisite football as they put six past a hapless Getafe side. The match was over in the first half itself as Iniesta and Messi ran riot on the pitch. Getafe’s fate was decided when the first goal they conceded was an own goal after Alba’s pass was deflected by Rodríguez into his own net.
Munir made it 2-0 after Messi set him up for the first of his three assists on the night. Neymar made it 3-0 after Messi’s through ball split the defense for the Brazilian to slot it comfortably. The Argentine got on the scoresheet himself before half-time as Arda Turan and Neymar completed the scoring in the second half thus extending their unbeaten run to 37 games.
Squads:
Barcelona: Bravo; Aleix, Piqué, Mathieu, Alba; S. Roberto, Arda, Iniesta; Messi, Munir, Neymar.
Getafe: Guaita; Pereira, Vergini, Velázquez, Rodríguez; Wanderson, Yoda; León, Medrán, Šepovi; Emi.
First Half: The game ends as a contest within 30 minutes
Barcelona coming into this match were on a 36-game unbeaten run only seven behind Juventus’ record of 43 unbeaten in all competitions. Luis Enrique keeping in mind the midweek Champions League game against Arsenal gave a rest to Luis Suarez dropping him to the bench. Getafe on the other hand, were slowly moving towards the relegation zone.
The opening 7 minutes were very quiet with Barcelona just moving the ball around and keeping possession. But suddenly out of nowhere Barcelona just stepped up a gear. Iniesta found Jordi Alba on the right-hand side of the box and the Spaniard whipped in a low ball that hit a Getafe defender and deflected into the net.
Just a minute later Neymar was fouled in the box and Messi stepped up. But the Argentine’s effort was weak and saved well by Guaita.
That should have been a warning sign for Getafe but the away side failed to learn from their mistakes. Just 10 minutes later Messi made amends for his earlier miss by setting up Munir for a third. Iniesta threaded another wonderful ball that found Messi with time and space on the right and his cross was headed in by the youngster.
Messi then setup Neymar for the fourth and he coolly slotted it in the low bottom corner of the net.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the visitors it did as Messi finally got his goal. A brilliant turn to get away from his marker and he lashed a wonderful curling low drive from just outside the box to make it 4-0. The game was over before half-time
Second Half: Barca continue dominance
Getafe started the brighter in the second half and fashioned a chance in the 47th minute but it was a long range effort that went well wide. Things went back to normal in respect to this match as Barcelona made it 5-0 just three minutes later.
Messi played an incisive through ball for Neymar in the box who had time to take a touch to control and another one to finish. That was Neymar's second of the game and the Argentine’s third assist.
Getafe just wanted the full-time whistle to blow but Barcelona were not done just yet. Seven minutes later Barcelona won a corner on the right-hand side. Messi whipped a ball in and Pique got a foot on it and his looped touch was taken brilliantly by Arda Turan. The Turkish international executed a great bicycle kick to make it six.
With Barcelona comfortable now it was only the matter of whether Neymar could get his hat-trick or not. He got two chances in a matter of minutes as Messi first found Neymar with a looped pass but his attempted chip did not fool the keeper.
A few seconds later Getafe once again lost possession and Messi once again threaded an inch-perfect through ball for Neymar but one on one with the keeper the Brazilian couldn’t find a way past him.
Barcelona took the foot off the gas after that as Luis Enrique took off Mathieu and Iniesta to give them a rest before the midweek game. The referee blew the whistle much to Getafe’s relief as Barcelona made light work of their opponents. Luis Enrique’s men temporarily extended their lead to 11 points over Atletico Madrid with only 9 games left to play.