Full-time: Barcelona 6-0 Getafe
Getafe are put out of their misery. That was a bit special from Barcelona, whose lead at the top of La Liga is now five points. Real Madrid host Almeria tomorrow evening. Night.
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89 min: Sorry. My mind drifted. I was thinking about cheese.
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84 min: Sergi Roberto crosses from the right and Bartra’s header is saved by Guiata.
83 min: Messi brushes the free-kick delicately over the wall; Guiata flies to his right and pushes it wide.
82 min: Messi is fouled by Felip on the edge of the area. He’s on a hat-trick.
80 min: Some more thoughts on the best front threes.
@JacobSteinberg Not a trio, but the sight of Pelé, Garrincha, Vavá and Zagallo together surely had to give defenders nightmares in 1958.
— Dylan Stillwood (@dylanstillwood) April 28, 2015
77 min: It’s Hull 1-0 Liverpool at half-time.
74 min: Here’s a double one-two between Suarez and Messi.
73 min: Messi turns up on the left this time and sends a cross into the area. Suarez is lurking at the far post, but it doesn’t reach him.
72 min: Suarez clips a pass to Messi in the area. He shoots from a tight angle, but Guiata diverts it behind at his near post. “Balotelli, Borini and Lambert?” wonders Ric Arthur.
71 min: Getafe hit the post! Hinestroza got in behind Barcelona again and his scuffed shot bobbled past Bravo but trundled on to the base of the left post and to safety.
69 min: Another burst from Messi, featuring a couple of impudent nutmegs, almost ends in a goal for Suarez. Messi was fouled on the edge of the area but the referee played an advantage because the ball ran to Suarez in the area. However he fluffed his lines and the chance was gone.
68 min: Barcelona make their final change, Martin Montoya on for Dani Alves.
66 min: Meanwhile, Suarez goes close to scoring his hat-trick. Neymar shimmies and shoots. It’s blocked and flies to the right side of the area, where Suarez volleys over.
64 min: Michael Dawson has made it Hull 1-0 Liverpool. Back in this game, Getafe have made another change. Juan Felip is on for Rodriguez.
63 min: Not much has happened since Messi scored Barcelona’s sixth. “stoichkov - laudrup - romario during the dream team time was pretty good!” says Alan May.
61 min: “Every time you mention Suarez’s name, my heart breaks just a little more,” says Sally Officer. “And we have Balotelli up front tonight...could it get any worse?”
Liverpool are still drawing 0-0 at Hull.
60 min: “Best front three ever: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, 1980s Boston Celtics -- so great they win in other sports, too,” says David Goutor.
59 min: Pedro replaces the immaculate Xavi Hernandez.
56 min: A chance for Lopez. A cross from the left finds him and he swivels and shoots well wide.
55 min: “Zidane, Raúl and Ronaldo were a hell of a front three,” says Kari Tulinius. That wasn’t a front three.
53 min: Barcelona haven’t scored for six minutes.
51 min: “¿Bacelona-Getafe?” says Rolf Mellander Uppsala Musikverkstad. “¿¿Where the hell is Hull-Liverpool?? ¿¿¿Whats wrong with you???”
I believe it’s in Hull.
49 min: Getafe bring on Lopez for Diawara.
GOAL! Barcelona 6-0 Getafe (Messi, 47 min)
They took their time. Barcelona scythe through the heart of Getafe and Messi opens up his body and caresses a stunning shot into the top corner with his left foot. Another exquisite goal. Has there ever been a better left foot than this guy’s?
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46 min: Off we go again. Barcelona have made a change at the break, Sergi Roberto replacing Sergio Busquets.
“They probably weren’t actually better (and I wasn’t even born when they were playing) but looking back in history I would nominate Puskas-Hidekguti-Kocsis for the mighty Hungary of the 50s and Jairzinho-Pele’-Tostao for Brazil in 1970 as possible alternatives to Suarez-Messi-Neymar as best ever front 3,” says Giovanni Pisoni. “Unless you meant club only, in which case my quick Wikipedia search to get the spelling right was a waste of time.”
I’ll counter that with the Jarvis-Carroll-Downing axis of doom from the 2013-14 season.
“Van Basten, Gullit, and Bergkamp played together in the Dutch side for Euro 92, but I’m not sure whether Gullit was playing as a striker,” says Joseph Streeter. “But even then I’m not sure it’s as good as Messi, Neymar, and Suarez.”
“Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard?” offers John Forrest.
What do we think, gang?
“It’s a trick question, right?” says Mark Turner. “It should be ‘better front two with Messi’.”
I’ll put Henry-Eto’o-Messi forward.
Joey Barton on philosophy in 2013: “Neymar is the Justin Bieber of football. Brilliant on the old You Tube. Cat piss in reality…,”
Neymar is the Justin Bieber of football. Brilliant on the old You Tube. Cat piss in reality...
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) March 25, 2013
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“Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho?” says David Ruan. “Although anything comparing to a front three that includes Messi is likely losing.”
Indeed. Those three are up there, although Ronaldinho was a year or two away from his peak. They also didn’t play against much at that World Cup.
Half-time: Barcelona 5-0 Getafe
It’s all to play for.
45 min: Getafe tentatively step forward, blinking like woodland creatures emerging from hibernation, and suddenly the path towards goal is cleared for Baba Diawara. But not for long, Adriano sprinting back to rob him.
44 min: “¡Qué barbaro!” yelps Charles Antaki. “Or perhaps: Fútbol, bloody hell!”
43 min: The only mystery now is when Barcelona declare. Not yet. Messi skips merrily past a couple of Getafe players and sets up Adriano, whose shot zips just wide.
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42 min: I asked this question on Twitter two weeks ago, but I might as well ask it again: down the years, name a better front three than Neymar-Suarez-Messi.
GOAL! Barcelona 5-0 Getafe (Suarez, 40 min)
Bloody hell. It starts with a one-two between Messi and Neymar on the right. Messi darts inside and zaps a pass to Xavi. Xavi, who had eyes surgically inserted into the back of his head when he was a child, flicks it to Suarez on the left and he blasts a spectacular shot into the far corner with the inside of his right foot. This is joyous football.
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38 min: Hello to all my readers. Will Barcelona beat Bayern Munich?
36 min: Busquets clips the ball over the top, seeking Messi, but it runs through to Guiata.
35 min: I’d say Barcelona have entered showboating mode, but that’s been the case from the first minute.
33 min: Messi gives the ball away.
31 min: By the way, Messi, Suarez and Neymar have scored 100 goals in all competitions this season. One hundred!
GOAL! Barcelona 4-0 Getafe (Xavi, 30 min)
Another minute, another goal. Xavi receives the ball 20 yards from goal and Xavis a curling shot into the top-left corner with his right foot. He’s still pretty good.
GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Getafe (Neymar, 28 min)
Messi has one, Suarez has one and now Neymar has one. And there I was saying he had been quiet. Rafinha wins the ball back with a snappy challenge and feeds Neymar, Getafe all over the defence. Neymar takes as much time as he likes, dancing past a defender and on to his right foot, and then rolls a shot past the helpless Guaita and into the bottom-right corner. So cool. He’s such an enjoyable footballer.
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27 min: Those three, eh? Come to think of it, Neymar hasn’t done much yet. And...
WHAT A GOAL!!!!! Barcelona 2-0 Getafe (Suarez, 25 min)
This is absurd. Lionel Messi finds space on the right and moves the ball on to his left foot. Uh oh. He dinks a glorious, curling ball over the head of a Getafe defender, having spotted Suarez in the area. The ball is in the air. Does Suarez bring it down? No. He waits for it to drop over his right shoulder and then, lowering himself and adjusting his body into the right position, top-spins a wondrous volley into the top-left corner with his right foot from 12 yards. Amazing skill. That’s Suarez’s 20th of the season and it’s absolutely brilliant.
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24 min: Hinestroza is keeping Barcelona’s defence honest, streaming down the right and seeing his cross deflected behind for a corner. Getafe had a couple of men unmarked in the middle. Baba ‘Kaba’ Diawara was screaming for it. But the danger hasn’t passed. The corner is sent to the near post and Velazquez nuts it wide.
23 min: Suarez, the ball slightly stuck under his feet on the edge of the area, tries to score with a straight-legged chip. Nope.
22 min: Another corner from Xavi, another headed chance for Stoke Barcelona, Bartra glancing wide.
21 min: Suarez wins another corner on the right for set-piece specialists Barcelona.
20 min: Messi drills a shot a few yards wide from 20 yards.
19 min: Baba Diawara is waved back on. Welcome, welcome.
18 min: Getafe are down to 10 men momentarily, Baba Diawara limping off for some treatment on an ankle injury.
16 min: Another chance for Getafe, Fredy popping up on the left and drilling a low cross into the six-yard box. Bravo collects the ball.
15 min: Getafe almost equalise with their very first attack! A hopeful ball was lobbed over the top and it led to indecision between Bravo and Bartra. With Bravo in no-man’s land, Fredy Hinestroza cleverly decided to try the lob and sent the ball looping over the goalkeeper, who scrambled back and clawed the ball off the line just as it was about to bounce into the top corner!
14 min: Xavi flips the ball to the far post; it’s headed behind for a Barcelona corner on the right. Again Xavi takes the set-piece, whipping the ball into the middle, Rafinha flinging a header over the bar. Have Barcelona been working on these?
13 min: Rafinha has his heels clipped by Lacen, to the right of the Getafe area. Messi and Xavi stand over the ball.
11 min: Getafe, weakened by injuries to several key players, are not going to enjoy themselves this evening.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Getafe (Messi pen, 9 min)
Lionel Messi has missed a few penalties recently. So he might be nervous. Then again, he might not be nervous. Not on the evidence of this, a stupendous Panenka of a penalty, poor old Guaita made to look very foolish indeed.
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PENALTY TO BARCELONA!
8 min: Are you surprised? No one is surprised. Suarez turns brilliantly on the edge of the area and is sent tumbling by a clumsy challenge from Arroyo. He argues, perhaps that the foul was outside the area, but the referee is unmoved and points to the spot.
7 min: Getafe haven’t been out of their half yet.
6 min: I already feel sorry for Getafe. Adriano swings a cross to the far post and Messi controls it beautifully, the ball dropping on to his left foot and sticking there like he’s got boots made out of fly paper. Messi touches it back to Alves, more auxiliary right forward than right-back tonight, and he slashes one wide.
4 min: Xavi is allowed time to look up and pick out Alves on the right side of the Getafe area. Alves brings the ball down and shoots with his left foot; Guaita makes a good save down to his right. This could be a long evening for Getafe.
3 min: Barcelona mean business, it appears. They’re pressing immediately and a surge forward from Mathieu almost ends with Xavi setting up Suarez. His pass is just cut out in time.
And with the minute’s silence impeccably observed, we’re off! Barcelona, kicking from left to right, get the first half underway. Getafe are all in yellow. They could be mistaken for Villarreal.
The players are out. Soon there will be football, but first there will be a minute’s silence for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.
“Are you really in Spain?” says Tony Waters. “Or be thee covering this while watching t.v. in London?”
I’m sitting next to Luis Enrique right now.
Jordi Alba is suspended after his red card in Saturday’s tempestuous 2-0 win at Espanyol and Gerard Pique is missing, while Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Javier Mascherano are on the bench. Which is understandable given that Bayern Munich visit Camp Nou next Tuesday.
At first glance, this looks like a foregone conclusion. But consider this: a 2-2 draw with Getafe at Camp Nou during the run-in last season ultimately put a huge dent in Barcelona’s chances of winning the title, Angel Lafita scoring a last-minute equaliser for the visitors. And it was 0-0 when these two sides met in Madrid in December. Could it be that Getafe are Barcelona’s bogey side?
The teams
Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Bartra, Mathieu, Adriano; Busquets, Rafinha, Xavi; Messi, Suarez, Neymar. Subs: Ter Stegen, Montoya, Mascherano, Rakitic, Sergi Roberto, Pedro, Iniesta.
Getafe: Guaita, Alexis, Lago, Velázquez, Lacen, Arroyo, Pedro León, Babá, Juan Rodríguez, Freddy, Emi.
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Hello. You may be surprised to learn that the La Liga title race is being fought over by Barcelona and Real Madrid. Who could have predicted that, eh? Barcelona lead by two points and with Real Madrid hosting Almeria tomorrow, there is no room for any slip-ups against Getafe at Camp Nou this evening. I imagine they’ll be fine. You tend to be fine when you have Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez up front.
Kick-off: 7pm in London, 8pm in Catalunya.
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