FC LUZERN-YONG BOYS FT-X WIN (2-0)
REAL MADRID-DEP LA CORUNA HT-1 (3-0)FT-1 WIN (6-1)
La Liga Preview: Getafe - Hercules
Los Azulones will not be taking the visit of the newly promoted Herculanos lightly...
By Robin Bairner
Suffering A Little
Getafe were one of the Primera Division’s surprise packages last season, playing plenty of neat passing football as they earned themselves a sixth placed finish. At the beginning of this term, coach Michel warned supporters not to expect such a lofty conclusion, and he was right to do so.
Shorn of some of his top talents in the summer, the coach has struggled to replace them with players of equal calibre and hence el Geta are swimming about the mid-table region of the league, despite not having had a particularly intimidating start.
Thrown into the equation has been European football, which will stretch a squad that is already lacking in the quality it boasted last term. On the continent, Geta haven’t served to be particularly convincing force, with a 2-0 defeat by Young Boys on Thursday evening throwing open the possibility that the Spaniards won’t reach the knock-out phase. Even with a rotated side, the capital men were expected to be far more competitive.
Sunday’s visit of Hercules offers Geta few guarantees, and any kind of positive result would surely be seen as something of a success for the Madrid-based men.
Mid-Table Hopefuls
Hercules are not a garden variety promoted side, as they’ve already served to display on more than one occasion this season. Figures such as David Trezeguet, Nelson Valdez and Royston Drenthe have ensured that there is a good deal of star quality in the side, while these faces have also displayed a willingness to work hard and succeed for their new side.
A 2-0 victory away over Barcelona will be the result everyone remembers, but one success alone doesn’t make for a successful campaign. Last weekend, los Herculanos recorded a fine victory at home over Sevilla, with David Trezeguet snatching a double.
“These are three important points for us,” coach Esteban Vigo explained after the fixture. “Hercules are a newly promoted team, but with very clear ideas of what we need to do, with the involvement of all players who go give everything. We have to believe in what we are, a football team.”
Getafe may not command the fear that Barca and Sevilla do for most teams, but defeating them would be another important step on Hercules’ route to becoming an established top flight club. It seems that the men from Alicante are hell-bent on skipping the relegation battle and instead simply becoming a well placed mid-table team, and matches like Sunday’s are fixtures they must take something from to achieve this.
Getafe
There was bad news for el Geta in midweek and more specifically Mario, who will be out for six months after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the fixture against Young Boys.
Pablo Pintos was able to be named in the midweek squad, but Michel has a whole host of players absent through injury, including Manu, Rafa, Javier Casquero and Javier Arizmendi.
Hercules
Javier Farinos may have to undergo an operation if his hamstring problem does not clear up soon, while Nelson Valdez was at least able to make the bench last weekend. There are no other reports of injury problems in the camp.
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