Barca too much for Getafe

Excerpts from The Bleacher Report, November 8, 2010, by Rael Mason:

"Fifteen minutes. A quarter hour of brilliance between the 20th and 35th minutes was all it took for Barcelona to score two, have another two disallowed and remind the world that when they’re on song, there’s no team that play football quite like them.

That 15-minute master class from Barca put them 2-0 up at the break through Lionel Messi and David Villa, before a defensive error let in Pedro for a third. Getafe got back into the game through a Manu penalty that also saw Gerard Pique dismissed, which was followed by a flurry of chances at both ends. The dismissal of Getafe’s Derek Boateng evened the numbers as Barca held out fairly comfortably to secure a 3-1 victory.

Barca began the game knowing that a win would take them back to the top of La Liga and put the pressure on Real Madrid, who were set to face city rivals Atletico later in the evening. They also knew that with their title rivals in such imperious recent form, they couldn’t afford to slip up.

The win took Barcelona temporarily top on 25 points from their 10 games, though Madrid’s subsequent 2-0 win over Atletico took them back above Barca on 26 points. Villarreal remain in third on 23 points after their 4-1 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao, while this defeat for Getafe saw them drop down to 11th place on 13 points.

Next up for Barca in the league is the visit of Villarreal to Camp Nou next weekend, a game that could prove to be vital for both sides’ title hopes and one Barca will have to play without the presence of the influential Pique."