FC Barcelona finally conceded their winning streak in la Liga to a really tough and hard working Getafe defense. Meanwhile Getafe has extended their unbeaten streak against Barca to a season and a half. FC Barcelona yet haven't found a way to deal with this tough and tightly packed defense. A Seydou Keita header in the second half saved a point for Barca after Manu put Getafe infront in the 19th minute. Sure the absence of players like Messi and Iniesta could be blamed for the result, but that was precisely the point I was making in my previous post Is It Too Early to Dream about Silverware, the absence of two of our big four did looked like affecting us. What was more dissappointing about the match was the way Hleb and Bojan who got the first League start of the season played. Eto did work hard but was undone by the lack of service. I have written in my preview to this match that with Messi absent it would be disastrous to put two defensive minded players in the middle. That tactic effectively took Eto out of the match; and we have to see Eto dropping back to create some attacking moves. Guardiola gave Sylvinho a rare start on the left, Puyol moved to the centre to partner with Pique and Alves occupied the righ back position. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Keita. The forward line was formed by the combination of Bojan, Eto and Hleb.Barcelona dominated possesion in the first half but did not create any meaningful attack in the early exchanges. Getafe meanwhile settled into their game plan and was looking to hurt Barca on the counter. In the 19th minute Pique gave away the ball to Manu whose initial pass came off from Pique and then he curled a superb strike past a hapless Valdes. That goal stunned the players and the crowd. FC Barcelona tried to reply back immediately. In the 21st minute Bojan's volley from an excellent cross from Eto was deflected for a corner. In the 28th minute it was Bojan again who wastes another great chance when he was caught in two mind. In the 31st minute Bojan wastes another good chance by shooting high after a Alves free kick hit the wall and the rebound fell perfect for Bojan. In the 35th minute it was Sylvinho whose stunning shot from the left of the box was saved by Abadonazzeri. In the 38th minute Barca was almost caught on the counter but Albin's effort was saved by Valdes. In the 39th minute Puyol produced a magnificient run into the box and places the ball to Eto who was on the edge of the box; Eto produced a magnificient, precise shot which beat the keepre but the bar came to his rescue.
In the second half also Barca could not produce any of their free flowing movements. In the 56th minute Guardiola brought in Henry for Hleb and Pedro for Bojan. That move started to instil some pace and an already tired Getafe defense looked a bit shaky for the first time in the match. In the 62nd minute Pique heads wide from a Xavi corner; that was an open chance. In the 64th minute Toure gave ball away in a dangerous position; somehow Barca was lucky to see the chance wasted by Getafe. In the 70th minute Valdes produced his trademark mistake (which was missing in recent matches); Albin picks up a lose ball and shots from a distance; should have been a regular catch for Valdes but as expected he spills but was real lucky to see it go wide. His expression after that was real funny. After narrowly escaping the chance of going 2 nil down Barca equalised in the 72nd minute when Keita got to the end of an excellent Alves cross with a good header. In the 73rd minute Sylvinho was taken off and was replaced by Gudjonsen. FC Barcelona was pressing rigorously for the victory and Getafe defense was having some tough times. In the 79th minute great cross from Keita in the left was cleared by Defense ahead of Henry. In the 80th minute Abadonezzeri produce another magical save to deny a Pique header from a corner. I still can't understand how he manged to save that. For the last minutes of the game Getafe defense hold their fort and FC barcelona struggled to find any movement.
FC Barcelona prepare for the tough fixtures after losing their winning streak. But there is not much to be dissappointed. We still are three point clear; but it is now essential for us to beat Sevilla next week. The absence of Messi and Iniesta, and the lack of fortune and great goal keeping the Argentinian international can be attributed as the reaon for this result. But one have to admit that Guardiola did some tactical blunders; first was to bring Hlen and Bojan, tow non-regulars together in this match. It was enough to get one of them a start. With both struggling Barca really struggled to make an impression early on and created chances only after Eto started dropping back. Secondly was the decision to club Toure and Keita together especially with Messi absent; this could be a sensible decision next week but not in a home match and that too against a team which are looking to drop back and defend. What that move did was opened up Xavi as the lone creative polayer and Getafe marked him well out of the match.