The winter break is finally over and football has returned back to Spain, and more importantly, to Catalunya. Barcelona had a really tough fixture with a trip to the capital to face Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. After a thrilling performance from both sides, it was the guests who took the full spoils of a truly even match.
As a result, the Blaugrana have been crowned winter champions of La Liga, topping it at the halfway mark for the second year in a row. Getafe’s failure to stop the Catalans also meant that the latters lead extends to five points over Atletico Madrid, seven over Sevilla, nine over Deportivo Alaves and even more impressively, 10 over Real Madrid. Yet the bookmakers are still not convinced that this Barcelona team is good enough to win the big one; the Champions League. Cast your eyes over the odds at a well-reviewed site like betDSI, find the best prices available on Barca taking the crown away from their big rivals.
This tactical analysis will use statistics to determine how Barcelona managed to break the second best defence in Spain to claim what feels like the most important three points of the first part of the season.
Line-ups
Barcelona (4-3-3)
Starting XI: Ter Stegen – Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba Vidal, Rakitić, Arthur Messi, Suarez, Dembele
Bench: Cillessen, Murillo, Semedo, Aleña, Coutinho, Busquets, Malcom
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Getafe (4-4-2)
Starting XI: Soria Djene, Antunes, Cabrera, Mata, Portillo, Angel, Arambarri, Maksimovic, Damian, Doulquier
Bench: Chichizola, Bruno, Samu Saiz, Cristoforo, Flamini, Ibanez, Molina
Coach: Pepe Bordalas
Barcelonas set-up
There were not many doubts about Ernesto Valverde’s preferred XI before the game, so the actual players that were fielded on Sunday didnt surprise anyone. What could be described as his best available side graced the pitch in Madrid with only a couple of exceptions.
Sergi Roberto returned from injury which saw him immediately replace Nelson Semedo, raising a couple of eyebrows in the process. Ousmane Dembele was selected in front of Philippe Coutinho, chaining the Brazilian to the bench even longer. The Ant decided to rest Sergio Busquets who’s still on a slight recovery path. Instead, he selected Ivan Rakitić in his position to deputize for the Spaniard’s absence. New signing Jeison Murillo was on the bench but did not get to play.
On paper, Barcelona operated in
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