Raphinha stars as Barcelona beats Getafe 4-0 to move into 2nd place in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Raphinha scored once and played a role in two other goals as Barcelona beat Getafe 4-0 to provisionally move into second place in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 20th minute at Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium. The Brazil winger then participated in passing moves to help João Félix and Frenkie de Jong add goals in the 53rd and 61st.

Substitute Fermin López rounded off Barcelona's biggest win since September with a goal in stoppage time.

Leader Real Madrid is five points clear of Barcelona before it hosts Sevilla on Sunday. Girona, which fell into third place, is one point adrift of Barcelona before playing Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Barcelona had been struggling at its stadium with only one win in its previous three home games, including a 5-3 debacle to Villarreal that prompted coach Xavi Hernández to announce

he would not see out the final year

of his contract next season.

But after recent stumbles by Girona, the biggest of the two Catalan clubs finds itself in position to at least become Madrid's closest chaser with a third of the season remaining.

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