Luis Suarez set Barcelona on its way to a first away victory of the La Liga season as it won 2-0 at Getafe on Saturday.
Forget the often hare-brained defending from the Catalan giant, Barcelona got what it came for: three points safely accrued ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Inter.
For coach Ernesto Valverde, the pressure eases just a little, and the fact it notched this victory without Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele, both sidelined with thigh injuries, is another source of encouragement.
Suarez lobbed in the 41st-minute opener, and Junior Firpo tucked in Barcelona's second from close range early in the second half for his first goal for the club. Getafe spurned first-half chances it might have gobbled up on another day and Clement Lenglet's 84th-minute dismissal for two yellow cards came too late to give it any real advantage.
Valverde fielded a front three of Carles Perez, Suarez and Antoine Griezmann. The game largely passed Griezmann by, not for the first time since his summer switch from Atletico Madrid.
Getafe was unbeaten in its last eight home La Liga matches; however, Barcelona had won on 10 of its 14 previous visits to the Coliseum Alfonso Perez in La Liga, more than any other visiting side.
Perez tested David Soria in the Getafe goal early on, before Suarez stabbed a shot wide following a smart throughball from Frenkie de Jong.
Barcelona's defence was then picked apart too easily, with Angel allowed space to shoot from six yards, his strike blocked by the legs of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Jaime Mata had a close-range effort deflect wide off Junior at the other, with Barcelona increasingly shambolic at the back. Inter will have taken encouragement.
But Suarez pounced to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute when a clearance from Ter Stegen turned into a great long ball for the Uruguayan striker to chase, and he lobbed Soria in style.
Soria was culpable for Barcelona's second four minutes into the second half, as he could only push a 25-yard shot from Perez back into play, and Junior had an easy finish.
Suarez and Perez almost added to the lead, while Arthur nearly fired past Soria into an empty net after the goalkeeper went walkabout, but two was enough.
Ter Stegen makes history
Incredibly, Ter Stegen's long kick that set up Suarez resulted in a first La Liga assist by a Barcelona goalkeeper in the 21st century. It was an altogether un-Barcelona-like piece of playing out from the back.
No Messi, yet too messy
Messi typically has little direct involvement in Barcelona's defending, but whenever he is on the pitch the Argentinian hoists up the standards of those around him. Without him on Saturday, Barcelona lacked guile. It was nowhere more obvious than in its rocky rearguard where some laughable interplay played into Getafe's hands. Inter is unlikely to be as sparing with its finishing as Getafe.
What's next?
A major test awaits Barcelona as it tackles Serie A high-flyer Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. Getafe faces FC Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday.
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