Spotlight on Getafe

Getafe is a working class town just outside Madrid and its football team, which was only founded in its current form in 1983 has made an amazing journey from the lower divisions to the heights of La Liga and European football in the last decade or so Although a Getafe team was formed in the mid 1940s and played around the lower divisions until they were disbanded after failing to pay players’ wages in 1982, the current incarnation was not formed until 1983. After starting at the bottom of the pyramid, Getafe won promotion four seasons on the run to end up in the third tier, where they remained, with the occasional promotion and subsequent relegation from the second division, until 2004 when they won promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history. It’s been a fairy tale story since then, with big name coaches such as Bernd Schuster and Michael Laudrup, European qualification(twice), a sixth place finish two seasons ago and a Spanish Cup final defeat. THE BARÇA CONNECTION In 1978, Getafe, who were then in the second division, drew Barça in the last 16 of the Spanish Cup. After a heroic 3-3 draw at home, the minnows were then brought back to earth with an 8-0 thrashing at the Camp Nou in the second leg. Nearly 20 years later, the two met again in the Cup semi finals and this time the first leg was in Barcelona, where two Messi goals – including what many consider to be one of his best ever- and one each for Xavi, Eto’o and Gudjohnsen gave Barça what looked to be a definitive 5-2 lead going into the second leg, only for Getafe to pull off a remarkable 4-0 win to take them through to the final. The Boss Luis Garcia is, at 39, one of a clutch of promising young Spanish coaches, having joined Getafe last summer following three successful seasons at Levante, with whom he won promotion in 2010. Form Guide After a poor start that saw them flirting with the relegation zone, Getafe now lie tenth in La Liga. Their 1-0 win over Barça in November was in many ways a turning point, losing just one of their next seven games and they are currently enjoying their best form of the season, having taken 13 points from their last six matches, with just the one defeat at the Vicente Calderon on their last outing.