Barcelona was bested yet again by Getafe‘s defense in a 1-1 draw in LaLiga on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid‘s club record winning streak ended after a late penalty miss by Antoine Griezmann.
Barcelona got its first goal in five visits to Getafe thanks to Jules Koundé‘s goal in the 10th minute, but Getafe equalized and clamped down to get a fourth consecutive draw at its stadium against the powerhouse.
The last time Barcelona won at Coliseum Stadium was in 2019, making the fixture a yearly quagmire for the Catalan club.
Real Madrid will aim to take advantage of the slips by its title rivals when it hosts Las Palmas on Sunday.
Atletico’s 1-0 loss to Leganes, its first loss since Oct. 27, left it one point ahead of Madrid.
Barcelona was five points behind the front-runner. This round marks the beginning of the second half of the league.
Barcelona frustrated again
Barcelona was coming off huge wins: A 5-2 thrashing of Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final and a 5-1 win over Real Betis in the Copa del Rey. Barcelona visits Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday.
But José Bordalas’s Getafe, with its physical, defensive style, once again frustrated Barcelona in Hansi Flick’s first visit as its coach.
Koundé put Barcelona ahead when Pedri threaded a pass to meet the right back’s move into the area. Goalkeeper David Soría blocked his first effort but Koundé scrambled the rebound out of Soría’s grasp and over the line.
Moments after Raphinha headed a cross by Koundé into the side netting, Getafe leveled in the 34th during a defensive letdown by the visitors. Mauro Arambarri put in a loose ball after Iñaki Peña did well to make a one-handed save of a volley by Coba de Costa.
“We controlled the game but they scored on the one chance they had, it is too bad,” Koundé said. “We didn’t have our finishing touch.”
Griezmann misses spot kick
Griezmann had a chance to at least snatch a point for the league leader after a video review awarded Atletico a 90th-minute penalty for a handball by defender Sergio González. But the French forward stroked his spot kick wide.
Griezmann and Julián Alvarez hit the woodwork in the first half, but the leaders couldn’t respond after Leganes defender Matija Nastasic scored with a 49th-minute header.
Last week, Atletico broke its own record of 13 consecutive victories in 2012-13.
Leganes returned to the first division this season and has become a giant-slayer in the top-flight. The modest club from Madrid stunned Barcelona when it was leader in December. Its win over Atletico lifted it into 15th place.
“We don’t have anything special, this is just the result of the hard work we put in each week,” Leganes goalkeeper Marko Dmitoriv said. “We have beaten two of the three big teams in the league, so we have no excuse not to perform like this each time out.”
Atletico, which was the biggest spender for Spanish clubs in the summer, is trying to win its third league under Simeone after titles in 2014 and 2021. Simeone said that during those championship runs, his side lost to smaller clubs Almeria (in 2014) and Levante (in 2021), and that didn’t stop them from still beating Barcelona and Madrid to the title.
“We had 15 wonderful games, a record in the history of this club. It was a great run that benefitted us in the league, Copa del Rey and Champions League,” Simeone said.
Atletico defenders Javi Galán and Clement Lenglet received their fifth yellow cards of the season and will miss the next round against Villarreal. But first, Atletico hosts Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Kike García blasts Betis
Alaves striker Kike García scored a hat trick to lead a 3-1 win at 10-man Real Betis.
The 35-year-old García, known more as a workhorse than a big scorer, earned a penalty after being fouled by Marc Bartra and opened the scoring in the 11th.
After Betis lost Romain Perraud to a red card for a dangerous foul in the 55th, García spun before firing home in the 80th and thumped in a header for his treble.
Lukébakio produces Sevilla late winner
Dodi Lukébakio starred again for Sevilla after scoring a solo effort in the 89th minute to complete a 2-1 comeback at Girona.
The Belgium forward tallied his team-leading ninth goal of the season after he nutmegged Ladislav Krejci before slotting the late winner past goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga. Gazzaniga saved a first-half penalty by Isaac Romero.