As if there was any doubt at this stage of what could be his last season at Barcelona and with so much to play for, Lionel Messi showed he was in the mood right from the very beginning against Getafe. It took a matter of minutes for him to give David Soria an almighty scare, rattling his crossbar with a sweetly hit shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The real harm was done minutes afterwards when, with Sergio Busquets serving up a perfect pass from deep, Messi ran away from the Getafebackline and slotted the ball past Soria.

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Class soon gave way to comedy at the Camp Nou. Clement Lenglet‘s own goal, an unfortunate deflection off his knee from Angel’s original effort, was topped by Sofian Chakla‘s own error. The Getafe centre-half hadn’t realised his goalkeeper had advanced when he tried to pass the ball back to him, with a retreating Soria too late to undo the damage.

The quality returned before the first half was up, Pedri holding a pass up for Messito volley first time. The 32-year-old’s shot rebounded off the far post but landed back at his feet, and he was then able to convert from a tight angle.

The break saw Lenglet relieved of his duties for the evening, left to rue his first-half contribution from the bench. The introduction of Ilaix Moriba saw Ronald Koeman shift Frenkie de Jong to play on the left of the back three.

Gerard Pique, still finding his way to full fitness, also didn’t emerge with his teammates for the second half. His replacement, Araujo, was caught treading on Enes Unal‘s ankle by VAR. Getafe’s substitute striker took the penalty himself and sent Ter Stegen the wrong way.

Any nerves that clung on to Barcelona after Araujo‘s mistake were erased when the Uruguayan defender headed in Messi’s corner with just a couple of minutes remaining, ending Getafe’s chance of a comeback. Antoine Griezmann‘s penalty in added time, which he won himself, made absolutely sure.

The victory means Barcelona make up for lost time after their exploits in the Copa del Rey final at the weekend, moving back above Sevilla into third in LaLiga Santander. They are five points behind leaders Atletico Madrid with a game in hand.

Match sheet

Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto (Trincao, min.64), Mingueza (Umtiti, min.75), Pique (Araujo, min.46), Lenglet (Ilaix, min.46), Alba, Busquets, De Jong, Pedri, Messi, Griezmann.

Getafe: Soria, D. Suarez, Djene, Chakla, Cucurella (Kofi, min.46), Alena (Abdulai, min.46), Chema (Miranda, min.76), Maksimovic (Arambarri, min.46), Iglesias, Kubo, Angel (Unal, min.63).

Goals: 1-0, min.8: Messi; 1-1, min.12 :Lenglet (own goal); 2-1, min.28: Chalka (own goal); 3-1, min.33: Messi; 3-2, min.69: Unal, 4-2, min.87: Araujo; 5-2, min.93: Griezmann.

Yellow cards: Lenglet (min.6) for Barcelona, Araujo (min.68) for Barcelona.

Red cards: None.

Referee: Jorge Figueroa.

Stadium: Camp Nou