Barcelona – Getafe

Barcelona hosts Getafe at the Camp Nou in a fixture from the 24th round of La Liga. The Catalans can’t afford a mistake right now, but Getafe won’t be an easy opponent.

Barcelona are currently second in the league with 49 points, being three points behind the leader Real Madrid. Quique Setien’s team is perfectly aware that this gap between them and Los Blancos shall not be increased, because the situation could get much more complicated.

Last week was really dramatic for Barca, because they had a tough visit to Setien’s former club Real Betis at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. On two occasions Betis had an advantage in the result, but at the end Los Cules won the three points with goals from Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets and Clement Lenglet.

Quique Setien’s problems are related to his defense. Clement Lenglet was sent off in the previous game, while Samuel Umtiti is currently not training with the team. Because of this the 20-years old Uruguayan Ronald Araujo from the “B” team could start on Saturday.

Getafe are once again having a pretty good season so far. It sounds suprising, but right now they are third in the league with 42 points. Last season Getafe missed on qualifying for the Champions League in the last few rounds, but now they are motivated to do better and reach Europe’s top competition.

If you have some doubts about Getafe’s current shape, just look at the stats – they are in a run of four consecutive wins in La Liga. Last week Jose Bordalas’ boys hosted Valencia at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez and achieved an exciting 3-0 win. Jorge Molina scored a brace for the hosts, while Mata also scored after an assist from Angel.

This is not going to be an easy game for Barcelona as Getafe are currently third in the standings and one of the best performing teams in La Liga. Quique Setien must prepare his boys for a competitive challenge.