Barcelona moved a significant step closer to retaining their LaLiga crown with a 2-0 victory away at Getafe, thanks to strikes from Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford.
Real Madrid’s 1-1 stalemate with Real Betis on Friday further boosted the Blaugrana’s advantage, leaving them 11 points ahead at the summit.
Fermin opened the scoring just before half-time, latching onto a superbly threaded pass from Pedri and calmly guiding the ball beyond David Soria into the bottom corner.
After the interval, Getafe’s disciplined backline largely held firm, with Soria denying Dani Olmo following a clever assist from Jules Kounde.
Barcelona eventually doubled their lead in the 74th minute, transitioning smoothly from defence to attack after a Getafe corner. Robert Lewandowski released substitute Rashford, who finished comfortably past Soria from the edge of the box.
Hansi Flick’s team nearly added a third in stoppage time, but Marc Casado fired over from close range, though it had no impact on the final outcome.
Data Debrief: All-round showing puts Barca one step closer
Barcelona fully deserved the win, producing 1.86 expected goals (xG) compared to Getafe’s 0.63.
It was another impressive team performance from Flick’s side, who have now scored 17 goals via substitutes in LaLiga this season, with Rashford contributing here. Only Bayern Munich (18) have managed more across Europe’s top five leagues.
Lewandowski also reached a personal milestone, recording 100 goal involvements in LaLiga (81 goals and 19 assists). At 37 years and 247 days old, he is the oldest player this century to achieve that feat in the competition.
