The lowdown on Getafe CF
FC Barcelona are hoping to keep alive their winning start to the season in Wednesday's 9pm CEST kick-off against Getafe. Here are the bare essentials on the azulones (blues).
Where are they from?
Getafe is a district in the south of Madrid, and the site of the Cerro de los Ángeles, which is traditionally considered to be the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It’s close to the district of Leganés, so the two clubs are natural rivals and met in the derby at the weekend, which ended 1-1.
History
Though formed in 1923, this is actually the third different incarnation of the club. The modern-day Getafe Club de Fútbol started life in the lowest tier of Spanish football in 1983 and took just two decades to become, in 2004, only the fourth club from Madrid (after Real, Atlético and Rayo Vallecano) to play in the top flight.
Two decades later and they are still there, having only missed one season of Liga football, and came within just two points of Champions League qualification five years ago.
Head to head
Barça have only lost one of their last 23 games against Getafe, a 1-0 defeat at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in October 2020.
After a series of four games that produced the paltry total of just one goal, last season Barça raced to a 4-0 win, with goals from Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez and Joao Felix. That the sixth time in a row that Barça had beaten Getafe at home.
Last five meetings (all La Liga)
24/02/24 Barça 4-0 Getafe
13/08/23 Getafe 0-0 Barça
16/04/23 Getafe 0-0 Barça
22/01/23 Barça 1-0 Getafe
15/05/22 Getafe 0-0 Barça
Form guide
While Barça have win all six league games so far, Getafe haven't won any and have only mustered three goals. However, they have only been beaten twice (by Betis and Sevilla), with the other four games ending in draws, and have actually conceded the same number of goals as leaders Barça, five.
The squad
Most capped internationals
Djené (Togo, 79), Omar Alderete (Paraguay, 22), Mauro Arambarri (Uruguay, 12)
Barça connections
La Masia graduate Carles Aleñá (below) played 26 games for Barça before going on loan to Real Betis and then Getafe, who purchased the central midfielder on a permanent basis three seasons ago.
His namesake Carles Perez was also in the Barça academy, scoring 13 goals for the reserves and making 11 senior appearances before leaving for Roma in 2020. He returned to Spain to join Celta, who have loaned him to Getafe for this season.
The boss
After guiding Alavés to promotion into La Liga in 2016, José Bordalás then did likewise with Getafe a year later and spent half a decade at the club, taking them to an all-time record fifth place. He left to take the Valencia job, but despite a Copa del Rey Final appearance, things didn't work out and instead he is now back at Getafe, where he was called back as a replacement for Quique Sánchez Flores last year.