FC Barcelona continued their excellent winning form with a well fought 2-1 victory against Getafe. Barca looked to have total control of the game followed by Lionel Messi goal in the 7th minute, but a red-card for Pique changed the entire game. In the end it was a test for the resolve of this team and they came through in flying colours. But this victory came with his share of problems for Barca. Pique could be missing in action in the next match. Toure who was injured looks like he will miss the game for almost two weeks. Dani Alves, who has aggrevated his injury is now set to miss three weeks of action. With Alves and Puyol missing, Guardiola slotted Maxwell at Right back, who looked excellent in that position. Milito started in the league after a long time along with Pique and Abidal in defense. Xavi, Toure and Keita formed the midfield. Toure was also given a rare start in league by Guardiola. The front line featured Iniesta, Ibra and Messi.Red Card Changes The Whole Game For FC Barcelona
Fc Barcelona started applying pressure from the onset of the match. In the 4th minute Lionel Messi received the ball on the right, he then cut inside before unleashing a powerful shot but wide. In the 7th minute Lionel Messi put Barca ahead with a great goal. The move started from a corner which the Getafe defense failed to clear, Toure laid off the ball to Mesi who was outside the box in the centre. Messi the curled the ball to the left corner with great precision from 25 yards. After the goal what followed was a great display of Barca at thei very best. Getafe 
struggled to get hold of the ball. Messi was running rampant in the Getafe defense but couldn't finish any off the chances. From a seemingly great position, FC barcelona's match took a U-Turn in the 25th minute. An Ibrahmovic back pass gave Getafe the ball, but Toure recovered well with a great tackle and tha ball reached Pique; Pique's attempt to clear the ball hit a Getafe player but he got hold off the ball and tried to dribble his way out only losing the ball and he then desperately lunged into Rafa. It was poor challenge and a red card is common for those in La Liga. Xavi who was captaining Barca earned himself a booking for protesting. Barca looked a bit confused after the red card. Toure moved into the defense like he did in Champions League final. But Getafe had two good chances both of them Valdes did well to counter. With time Barca was back with confidence and we ended the half well organised even though we were one player short. Ibra had a great chance in the 43rd minute but he made a horrible waste of it.
Gritty Performance Seals the Match For FC Barcelona
The ex-Real Madrid player Soldado had a great chance at the start of the first half. Guardiola brought in Busquets for Ibra in the 52nd minute. We shifted to a 4-41 formation with Messi upfront and Iniesta dropping into midfield. Iniesta's presence in midfield meant we retained possession more often in the second half. In the 59th minute wasted a great oppurtunity to seal the ga
me after a great move by the little trio - Xavi, Iniesta and Messi set him up. Then in the 67th minute Xavi gave Barca some breathing space with his goal. Marquez played the ball to Xavi near the centre of the pitch, Xavi moved the ball to Messi on right who set off in his usual spell bounding run and passed the ball to Xavi who was left unmarked and Xavi made no mistake with the finish. With a two goal cushion Barca's midfield took control of the game and Getafe failed to create anything meaningful. But towards the end Marquez was sent off for pulling down Blanco. Soldado scored for Getafe from the spot kick.
This for me was the best performance of Barca in this season. We might have played more fluently in many other matches, but not this efficiently. We played really well in our usual style till the red card, post the expulsion we adjusted really well and remained a real threat even with a men down. Milito who started for the fist time in a League match this season was in superb form. The argentinian never felt distubed in the match even though he saw two of his partners being sent off. He could really partner Puyol in the matches ahead. Maxwell fitted really well in the Right Back role. I thought he wa smore comfortable in a RB role than a left back. Lione Messi and Xavi were on top of their game. Iniesta did looked cut off from majority of action in the first half, and started creating more terror once he was moved into the midfield.