Torres Brace Fires Barcelona Past Getafe as Atletico Slip Again
Barcelona kept pace with league leaders Real Madrid after a 3-0 win over Getafe on Sunday, with Ferran Torres netting twice and Dani Olmo adding a late strike at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.
The victory leaves Hansi Flick’s side two points behind Madrid, who maintained their perfect start by beating Espanyol a day earlier.
Torres, starting in place of the injured Lamine Yamal, seized the opportunity with two sharp first-half finishes.
His opener came after Olmo’s clever backheel set him free inside the box, while his second was a precise low strike from outside the area following Raphinha’s pass.
The Spanish forward nearly completed a hat-trick before the break, rattling the crossbar with a powerful effort.
Getafe, content to sit deep and disrupt play, frustrated Barcelona with a series of late tackles that left Jules Kounde among the targets.
Flick introduced Marcus Rashford for Raphinha at half-time, with Spanish media reporting the England forward had initially been benched for arriving late to a team meeting.
Rashford quickly made an impact, driving into the box before setting up Olmo for Barcelona’s third. He also forced goalkeeper David Soria into two strong saves.
The only downside for the champions came in stoppage time, when substitute Fermin Lopez appeared to suffer a muscle injury.
“We had to focus on our own football, not the fouls,” Torres said afterwards. Flick added: “With matches every few days, rotation is normal. What matters is that everyone performs when called on.”
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s poor start to the campaign continued as they drew 1-1 at Mallorca.
Despite controlling large parts of the game, Diego Simeone’s team were punished late after Vedat Muriqi cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s strike.
The visitors, reduced to 10 men following Alexander Sorloth’s red card, had earlier missed a penalty through Julian Alvarez.
Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Roman produced several key stops to frustrate the Rojiblancos, who now sit 12th with just one win from five league matches.
“We dominated but didn’t finish,” captain Koke admitted. “That’s what’s costing us.”
Atletico, already nine points adrift of Madrid and seven behind Barcelona, will need to recover quickly after suffering another setback in a week that included a last-minute Champions League defeat at Liverpool.
