2019-04-01 World Soccer

Team from Madrid’s suburbs scaling unlikely heights in La Liga

Getafe

W

hile attention

focused

inevitably on

Barcelona’s

victory over

Real Madrid

in the second

clasico of the season – a result that all

but confirmed Barca’s retention of the

title – Getafe have emerged as the story

of the Spanish season.

Their rise from the second tier has

been remarkable. Promoted back into

Headliners

the top flight in 2017, a year after being

relegated, the team from Madrid’s

suburbs went into the international

break in fourth place in La Liga.

In February, goals from Jaime Mata

and Jorge Molina helped them beat Rayo

Vallecano 2-1 in one of the top flight’s

many Madrid derbies to reach their

highest-ever league placing, ahead

of Alaves, Sevilla and Valencia.

Based 13km south of Madrid’s centre,

and with an average attendance of just

9,874 – the third smallest in La Liga after

Eibar (5,416) and Huesca (4,733) –

Getafe have been dubbed the “Spanish

Watford”. But such a comparison is

unfair; Watford’s Italian owners have used

connections and Premier League TV

money to sign players from Barcelona,

Juventus, Chelsea and Tottenham

Hotspur. Getafe, by contrast, are a team

of misfits, rejects and bargain purchases.

Mathieu Flamini, the 35-year-old

former France international, may have

played in the Champions League for

Arsenal but he signed for Getafe as a

Determined...Damian

Suarez holds off

Sergio Leon of

Real Betis