“You can destroy football. That’s impossible.” The words of Rafael Benítez to the players of Getafe after the match played by Celtic in the first round against the azulón team is still echoing in both teams, who will face each other again at the Coliseum with different goals: Getafe will try to join the fight for Europe and Celta escape from the positions refuse.
From that duel with Balaídos (2-2) Benítez regretted the Getafe’s loss of time, that for an hour he played with one less man due to the dismissal of Domingos Duarte. On the same field of play, the coach of the Galician team criticized the attitude of the Azulones footballers. Later, in the press room, he insisted: “We played fifty odd minutes. It won’t improve football,” he said.
Bordalasafter a few months, he didn’t want to answer his office counterpart: “We are not coaches who are the stars and we have to dedicate ourselves to practice and to get the best out of the players,” he stated. And now both teams and the two coaches will meet again with that controversy in the background.
Since that day, the Getafe has evolved for the better. They sit comfortably in the middle of the standings, thirteen points above the relegation positions. The last place in Europe, held by Real Sociedad, has a distance of seven units. Everything is still possible for the team Bordalaswho still have time to fight for ambitious goals and get out of boring classification positions.
When the winter market is over, the Getafe was left without four men, the last of them unexpected: after the departure of Enes Ünal (Bournemouth), Stefan Mitrovic (Genk) and Anthony ‘Choco’ Lozano (Almería), came Damián Suárez, who after after nine seasons at the azulón club he announced that he was leaving the club to play for Botafogo.
On the contrary, they came Yellu Santiago and Ilaix Moriba. The first has already enjoyed some minutes and played at a good level and the second has not been involved until this week for the Africa Cup. Moriba participated in the competition with Guinea and, in addition, joined the Getafe team with some physical discomfort. However, everything seems to indicate that he is ready to face Celta and will not join the Getafe casualty list.
It is short and specifically formulated Gaston Alvarez that he had to serve a one-match suspension after seeing his fifth yellow card the previous day, and Mauro Arambarri, He was out for the entire season with a serious knee injury.
Bordalás, after losing to real Madrid (0-2) and to tie against Legs (1-1), wants to continue its good streak at the Coliseum, where it lost only this season against the white team.
To do this, you will have again Maximovic, who was in discomfort last week and is ready to return to the starting lineup and leave Yellu on the bench. There will also be Juan Iglesias, who has overcome his shoulder problems and will compete with José Ángel Carmona and Djené to play on the right side. In the rest of the eleven, not many surprises are expected and names like Greenwood, Milla and Mayoral, key players at Getafe, are ready to try to beat Celta.
For his part, the Celtic Find the victory of silence in Getafe. He Coliseum It does not seem to be the ideal place to achieve it, but the need for points and the good feeling that the team left in El Sadar invites optimism despite the fact that in history it has celebrated only two victories on the field of Madrid.
Added to this is the fact that the recession is on Friday Cádiz against Betis gives more relevance to this Sunday’s rivalry, as a victory at Getafe would allow the Vigo team to increase to six the points it has as a cushion above the relegation zone.
Rafa Benítez passed an important test with flying colors Pamplona. The light blue coach opted for a very defensive system and the tactics worked wonderfully. In his worst moment since his arrival in Balaídos, he gambled Iago Aspas is absentwho was left without a minute due to a technical decision, something that has not happened at Celta since May 2021.
Now, he must decide whether to keep him on the bench or return him to the eleven, something that seems unlikely if he repeats the system with a single forward – the Norwegian Larsen It was unquestionable for him.
The light blue coach, as usual, played with his lineup, but everything indicates that he will repeat the Pamplona eleven. In that case, the Swedish central Carl Starfelt, who last summer he chose as third captain after Aspas and Kevin Vázquez, will start again as a substitute.
Possible lineups
Getafe: Soria; Juan Iglesias, Djené, Alderete, Diego Rico; Greenwood, Maksimovic, Milla, Jordi Martín; Latasa and Borja Mayoral.
Celtic: Guaita; Manquillo, Unai Núñez, Tapia, Carlos Domínguez, Ristic; Mingueza, Beltrán, Tapia, Luca de la Torre; and Larsen.
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (Las Palmas Committee).
stadium: Coliseum
Time: 14:00
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
