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LFP: Barca fail away from home again

Getafe's Argentine goalkeeper Roberto Carlos Abbondanzieri, left, clashes with Barcelona's Gabriel Milito during their Spanish La Liga match at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium in Getafe, Spain, on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

Six away points from a possible 18 is not good enough for a team with title aspirations and Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard admitted that he would have to go back to the drawing board after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Getafe.

"I think we tried to play football our way but once again it didn't work and it is my job to find a solution to collect points away from home," Rijkaard said. "I have to think of something different for the away games. It could involve a change of system."

Michael Laudrup was a hero at Barcelona after helping them win the 1992 European Cup but the now-Getafe coach put past feelings aside to mastermind a sensational win over ten-man Barcelona.

Barcelona could have replaced Real Madrid at the summit but fell to their second defeat of the season with Manu del Moral (27) and Juan Albin (90) on target.

Substitute Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off for a wild challenge late on to cap a miserable night for the Catalans who are now a point behind Real having played one game more.

It means Barcelona have won just once on their travels this season and Rijkaard is understandably concerned.

"We did not create many chances and the fact that Uche had more shots than our entire team proves that something didn't work," the Dutchman said. "However there is a long way to go in the league and a lot of factors come into play -- but obviously if you want to achieve something you must collect points on your travels and so far we have failed to do this."

It was the first time Getafe, a club that was founded in 1983 and is enjoying only its third season in the top division, had defeated the mighty Barcelona in the league and the result will please their old boss Bernd Schuster.

Schuster, now in charge of Real Madrid, will hope his side can capitalize on Barca's slip and victory over Mallorca late yesterday would see them move four points clear of their foes.

All the pre-match talk had been of Barcelona enacting revenge over Getafe with last season's cup semi-final still at the back of their minds.

Leading the semi-final 5-2 from the first leg Barcelona somehow lost the return leg 4-0 and Getafe, then under the management of Schuster, progressed to the final.

Getafe took a surprise lead with Manu scuffing in a half-volley from close range after Barca failed to defend a set-piece.

Rijkaard made one change at the interval replacing Lilian Thuram with Italian full back Zambrotta as Carles Puyol reverted to the center of defense.

Predictably Getafe built a defense bottleneck for Barcelona and there was no way through for Ronaldinho and company.

Zambrotta produced a ferocious two-footed challenge five minutes from time and was issued his marching orders and a goal in stoppage time was the final nail in the coffin.
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