FC Barcelona (1st, 21pts) vs Getafe CF (12th, 8pts)
Competition/Round: 2026-27 La Liga, Matchday 8
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Raphinha, Roony Bardghji, Frenkie de Jong (out)
Getafe Outs & Doubts: Christantus Uche (out), Abdelkabir Abqar, Juanmi (doubt)
Date/Time: Saturday, October 10, 2026, 6.30pm CET (Barcelona), 5.30pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 12.30pm ET, 9.30am PT (USA), 10pm IST (India)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano
VAR: Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria),
Not Available (UK, Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), FanCode (India), DAZN (Spain), others
Following the longest international break in the history of mankind which lasted approximately 736 days, Barcelona football is finally back as the La Liga leaders look to extend their history-making perfect start to the season when they welcome Getafe to the Greatest Stadium on Earth on Saturday evening.
This weekend’s game begins a brutal two-week, five-game stretch for the Blaugrana who play three straight massive road games after this one and finish things off with the first El Clásico of the season, and the depth and quality of Hansi Flick’s squad will be tested to the limit.
Barça have been the best and most entertaining team on the planet so far this season, but it’s reasonable to argue their schedule was pretty forgiving and their toughest tests yet are all to come over the next fortnight. We’ll learn a lot about this team, and we’ll see if Flick was right when he said before the start of the season that Barça’s best version would only show up after the first international break.
The first test is undoubtedly the most annoying and frustrating of all as José Bordalás’ Getafe come to town with their usual brand of anti-football that threatens the safety and the patience of every player and fan who have to endure 90 minutes of their antics.
Getafe have somehow reached new levels of Getafeness this season, with eight points from their first seven games despite only scoring four goals so far. They rank exactly where’d you expect in every statistical category: 19th in possession, 20th in expected goals, 20th in passes per game, 17th in touches in the opposition box, 19th in shots on target, second in long balls, second in fouls per game, third in yellow cards, and first in red cards. It’s almost impressive how unwatchable they can be.
Barça fans young and old know exactly how a Getafe match is going to go: they will be physical and test the limits of the referee to see just how dirty they can get before they’re punished, they will concede very few chances, and the game will be played at a painfully slow pace.
It’s been awesome to watch Barça’s high-flying, free-flowing attack so far this season but all of that goes out the window against Getafe. This is all about winning and not getting injured, and everything else is a bonus.
Let’s… dance?
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Martín, Espart; Fermín, Rodri, Gavi; Adeyemi, Jesus, Gordon
Getafe (5-3-2): Soria; García, Djené, Gudelj, Romero, Mojica; Serrano, Mangala, Terrats; Azon, Ünal
PREDICTION
Every Barça fan knows exactly what a game against Getafe looks like. It’s ugly, physical, and it’s about survival and getting to the final whistle with three points and zero broken bones. If you’re expecting high-flying, five-goal-scoring Barça in this one, you’ll likely be disappointed: 2-0 to the home team.
