Barcelona will be in pursuit of confirming and locking the second place in La Liga table when they make the trip to the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez on the 15th of May to take on Madrid-based side Getafe. The Catalan giants have a five-point lead over Atletico Madrid in third place. Meanwhile, Getafe are 15th in the table and are five points ahead of the relegation zone with two matches left to be played.
Getafe cannot take their safety in La Liga for granted for the remainder of the season, at least mathematically on paper. However, it will be more than a huge surprise if they end up getting relegated from the position that they are currently in. As mentioned before, they have a five-point lead over Mallorca in 18th place, and with just two matches left in 2021/22, there is little chance of them slipping up.
With that being said, however, Getafe will have to confront the fact that it has been a troubling campaign for the Deep Blue Ones. After finishing eight, fifth and eighth in Spain’s top-flight between 2017 and 2020, they have dropped the ball this season and are currently occupying a spot as low as 15th on the table.
Although they are only five points clear of the relegation zone at the bottom of the table, Quique Sanchez Flores’ men are also just six points off the top half of the table. That just goes to show how competitive and closely matched the teams in the lower half of the table have been and a lot of movement could still be expected heading into the final couple of matches of the Spanish league season.
On the brighter side of things, the side from the capital city of Madrid are unbeaten in the last four matches heading into Sunday’s clash with Barcelona. They have defeated Celta Vigo and have also secured stalemates against Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna during that undefeated period. Their last defeat arrived in a 2-1 loss at home to Villarreal in the middle of April.
The capital outfit will also back themselves to succeed here, given that they had defeated Barcelona 1-0 when the two teams locked horns in the corresponding fixture last season at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez. However, the Catalan giants also secured an important 1-0 victory at the Camp Nou in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Barcelona will head into this fixture with the comforting fact that they have already secured Champions League qualification for next season. When Xavi took over the reins of the club from Ronald Koeman in the middle of the season after what was the tumultuous start to the beginning of the La Liga season, Barcelona found themselves as low as ninth in the table and struggling to fight a war they’ve hardly before been in.
The departures of Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann had left a massive hole in the club which has had to contend with mediocrity lately. However, former player Xavi has inspired them to dream bigger and has now secured Champions League football for the next season, which was his coaching staff’s primary target when they initially took over. They sit five points clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid with just two matches left and will be looking to confirm their runners-up spot in La Liga.
Although the Catalans did suffer consecutive home defeats to Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano last month, they have now been victorious in their last three league matches. Barcelona defeated Mallorca and Real Betis before securing another 3-1 victory over Celta Vigo on Tuesday night at the Camp Nou to move on to 72 points for this season.
They will end their campaign with a home fixture against Villarreal on May 22. Two victories in the next couple of matches will certainly leave the fans with a sense of hope ahead of what promises to be a busy summer for the Catalan giants as they continue to plan a massive squad overhaul.
Robert Lewandowski, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie and Raphinha are some of the names mentioned on a regular basis in the newspapers in Catalonia and Joan Laporta and his board will have their task cut out for them over the next couple of months when the curtains are drawn on this particular season.
Barcelona have had to sit back and watch arch-rivals Real Madrid win La Liga in emphatic fashion in April itself, and they have also reached the Champions League final where they will be facing Liverpool in Paris on May 28. In a case of the glass being half full, there have been plenty of positives for the Catalans during Xavi’s period at the helm of the club and they will be looking to secure their 10th victory away from home this season on Sunday evening in Madrid.
After league champions Real Madrid, Barcelona have the second-best record on their travels in the Spanish top flight this season. They have secured 34 points from their 18 matches. However, they will be facing a solid Getafe side who have also claimed 27 points from 18 matches in front of their own supporters and on their own home turf.
GET vs BAR, La Liga 2021/22
Date: 15th May, 2022
Time: 11:00 PM IST
Venue: Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, Getafe
FORM GUIDE:
Getafe La Liga form:
- L-L-W-D-D-D
Getafe form (all competitions):
- L-L-W-D-D-D
Barcelona La Liga form:
- L-W-L-W-W-W
Barcelona form (all competitions):
- L-W-L-W-W-W
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Getafe wins: 4
Draws: 6
Barcelona wins: 27
TEAM NEWS:
Getafe Team News: Getafe will have to cope without the services of central defender Stefan Mitrovic who is suspended for this clash. He was shown his marching orders during the 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Wednesday night and will play no part in this game. Jaime Mata will also be missing this match due to an injury.
However, besides these notable absences, the home side are otherwise in terrific shape at this late stage of the season. In fact, the starting 11 might look extremely similar to the one that took to the field against Osasuna the last time around.
Damyan Suarez is pushing his case for a return as the right side wing back. However, in the absence of Mitrovic, Quique Sanchez Flores could end up implementing a back three for the hosts which might see the return of Gaston Alvarez to the first team XI.
Barcelona Team News: For visitors Barcelona, the biggest cause of concern heading into this game will be the availability of central defender Ronald Araujo. The Uruguayan was involved in a strong clash of heads with teammate Gavi in the previous match at the Camp Nou.
He lost consciousness almost immediately and had to be carried off the pitch in an ambulance and was taken to the hospital directly. However, tests done at the hospital revealed that it was nothing serious, but Araujo did suffer a concussion. He has taken a few days off and has also returned to training, but Xavi is expected to be cautious with the defender and will be unwilling to force him into the game. Meanwhile, Araujo’s partner in crime, Gerard Pique is also unavailable because of any problem.
This leaves Barcelona with a massive, massive hole to fill in central defense, as youngster Eric Garcia will also be missing this match after getting operated on his hand recently. Garcia would have been unavailable because of suspension anyway, and left-back Jordi Alba and midfield dynamo Frenkie De Jong are also unavailable because of the same reason.
Because of this reason, Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet, and Oscar Mingueza could all feature at the back in what looks to be an extremely vulnerable and shaky defense for Barcelona. Neither of the three players has featured regularly in Xavi’s plans this season and Quique Sanchez Flores will be well aware of the opportunity this will present to his attackers.
Barcelona will also be missing the services of Nico Gonzalez, Sergi Roberto, Sergino Dest, and Pedri who are all out through injury. However, they will be bolstered by the return of Sergio Busquets in midfield who had served his one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards in the last game.
Xavi decided to switch things around and started with a front four of Ousmane Dembele, Memphis Depay, Ferran Torres, and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang in the match against Celta Vigo and that could also be the case for this particular game.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Dakonam, Alvarez, Cuenca, Olivera; Luis, Arambarri, Maksimovic; Mayoral, Unal
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Alves, Umtiti, Lenglet, Mingueza; Busquets, Gavi; Dembele, Memphis, Torres; Aubameyang
Predictions:
Getafe are a very physical opponent and are well capable of making it a tricky encounter for Barcelona at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Barcelona, who will have a massive headache to worry about in defence as the trio of Umtiti, Lenglet and Mingueza could leave them exposed and open at the back.
With that being said, however, they are on a bit of a roll at the moment and have won the last three games. They also have more than enough quality in the final third to get enough goals and secure all three points from this fixture to confirm their spot as runners-up in La Liga.
