BARCELONA.- Raphinha scored one goal and played an important role in two more while the Barcelona defeated Getafe 4-0 to provisionally place themselves in second place in the Spanish League on Saturday.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 20th minute at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
The Brazilian winger then participated in passes that helped João Félix and Frenkie de Jong score in the 53rd and 61st minutes, respectively.
Substitute Fermín López rounded off Barcelona’s biggest win since September with a goal in stoppage time.
Leaders Real Madrid are five points ahead of Barcelona ahead of Sevilla’s visit on Sunday. Girona, which fell to third place, is one point behind the Catalan team before playing Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
Barcelona had been struggling at home with just one win in its previous three home games, including a 5-3 debacle against Villarreal that led coach Xavi Hernandez to announce he would not finish out the final year of his contract next season.
But after Girona’s recent stumbles, the larger of the two Catalan clubs is in a position to at least become Madrid’s closest challenger with a third of the season remaining.
Barcelona far from its best version:
After several years of dominance under the guidance of Lionel Messi, who later moved to Paris Saint-Germain and is now at Inter Miami in the MLS, Barcelona has fallen into one of its worst stages in recent times, as Although they have managed to stay among the top teams in the local league, they have not been able to keep up with Real Madrid and have also suffered significant setbacks in European tournaments.
Source: With information from AP
