Getafe 1-0 Barça: First league defeat

On a day that Real Madrid had lost had home to Cadiz, a week ahead of El Clásico, this was a chance for Barça to go top of the table, and with a game, or even games, in hand on the other frontrunners. However, runs of 15 matches without to defeat to Getafe and of four consecutive victories at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez came to an end as Getafe inflicted the first defeat of the season on Ronald Koeman’s Barça.

Dest debut

With new signing Sergiño Dest making his Barça debut at left back, right from the start, almost all of the action was inside the Getafe half. But turning that dominance into clear-cut chances proved difficult against the hosts' typically solid defending.

Leo Messi came agonisingly close when he drove a long range effort onto the post… Antoine Griezmann found himself in a wonderful position but sent the ball over the bar…

And that was the end of a first half in which Barça had looked much the better side, and Pedri in particular had been one of the standout players, but Getafe had created more than the occasional threat on the counter attack, with Maksimovic early on and former Barça man Marc Cucurella both coming dangerously close to scoring.

Penalty woe

Nevertheless, it was very much against the run of play when Getafe took the lead. Frenkie de Jong was adjudged to have brought Djene down in the area and Jaime Mata converted from the penalty spot.

Barça pushed and pushed and deserved at least an equaliser for their efforts, but it was Cucurella, denied by a wonderful piece of goalkeeping from Neto, and Cucho, whose shot the Brazilian nudged onto the bar, who had come closest to scoring.

The game entered some very nerve-racking final minutes. Barça threw all they could forward and were again almost caught out at the back when Cucho squandered a chance to make it 2-0.

Frustration

There was still hope that the blaugrana could at least salvage a point. Riqui Puig came on for the final minutes, his first of the current campaign. But José Bordalás has put together a very tight unit indeed in the south of Madrid… Try as Barça did, the goal just didn’t want to come and this game has ended in disappointment.

Next up it’s a change of competition as the Champions League returns to Camp Nou and Ferencváros visit for the first time… and after that, it’s El Clásico time.