Frank Rijkaard's side were obliged to win after Real had beaten Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 earlier in the day and got off to a perfect start when Ronaldinho scored after just two minutes.

Lionel Messi fed Samuel Eto'o, who skipped past two Getafe defenders and squared for the unmarked Brazilian to fire into the empty net and give Barcelona a precious early lead.

The Catalans were pouring forward at every opportunity early on and looked to have picked up where they left off last Sunday in Madrid, where they thrashed Atletico 6-0.

Roberto Abbondanzieri's fumbled save kept out Ronaldinho's dipping free-kick on 11 minutes and the Brazilian almost set up Eto'o in Barcelona's next attack.

The Catalans then could have a penalty on 22 minutes when Ruben Pulido pushed Messi, but referee Alfonso Perez Burrull waved play on.

After a lull in proceedings, captain Carles Puyol should have doubled Barcelona's lead ten minutes later when he sent a header just wide of the far post from Deco's free-kick.

Eto'o then tested Abbondanzieri with a powerful effort on 33 minutes as Barcelona continued to dominate.

However, the Catalans went down to 10 men after Ronaldinho was sent off for lashing out at Belenguer on 39 minutes.

The Brazilian retaliated to the defender's foul by kicking his rival between the legs and to the disgust of his team-mates and the Nou Camp faithful, was shown the red card by Perez Burrull.

After the interval, Barcelona took a while to adjust to their numerical disadvantage, but almost extended their lead following a flowing counter-attack on 56 minutes.

The moves started when Messi charged forward down the right and fed Deco.

The Portugal midfielder then swept an inswinging cross towards the advancing Eto'o, but the Cameroonian was unable to connect and Pulido hooked the ball behind for a corner.

From the resulting set piece, Pulido cleared Messi's shot off the line after Abbondanzieri had completely lost sight of the ball.

At the other end, Victor Valdes was called into action for the first time to make a low save from Sergio Pachon's drilled effort as Getafe searched for a way back in to the game.

But Barcelona were still dominating and Abbondanzieri did well to keep out Deco's powerful free-kick on 65 minutes.

Nevertheless, having played all of the second half with ten men, the Catalans began to tire and Getafe twice came close to equalising in the latter stages.

After Swiss midfielder Fabio Celestini had fired over from close range on 70 minutes, Pachon needed the slightest of touches to tap in Manu Del Moral's cross as the clock ticked away, but was beaten to the ball by Oleguer.

Valdes then produced another good save to keep out a Celestini piledriver with five minutes remaining and Barcelona held on to a victory which keeps them level on points with Real Madrid - but below their rivals in the head-to-head - with just two rounds left of the Primera Liga.