João Félix, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López were all on the scoresheet as Barcelona secured a a 4-0 win over visitors Getafe on Saturday, which lifted Xavi Hernaández’s side to second in LaLiga.
It was a much-needed win for last year’s champions who are enduring difficult season and have been under pressure after coach Xavi announced he was stepping down as manager at the end of the campaign.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
In a half-empty Olympic stadium, the hosts dominated from the start and opened the scoring through Raphinha in the 20th minute.
In a quick counter, the Brazil winger beat the offside trap to latch on to Jules Koundé‘s long pass and blasted the ball past Getafe keeper David Soria.
Raphinha wasted two great chances in similar fashion and Luis Milla almost equalised in the 49th minute with a long-range strike that hit Marc-André ter Stegen‘s right post.
Cristian Trujillo/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images
João Félix extended Barca’s lead in the 53rd minute with a tap-in from a low cross by Andreas Christiansen from the right and De Jong struck from the edge of the box to score the third, following good work by Raphinha.
Substitute Lopez lashed in a rebound in added time to complete the rout for the champions who moved to second in the standings on 57 points, five behind leaders Real Madrid and one ahead of third-placed Girona, both of whom have a game in hand.
Real host Sevilla on Sunday while Catalan upstarts Girona face Rayo Vallecano as they look to bounce back from two consecutive losses to keep their surprise LaLiga title ambitions alive.
“We played a very complete game both in defence and attack, I’m satisfied with the performance and the result, now we’ll wait to see what Girona and Real do…” Xavi told Movistar Plus.