La Liga is back! FC Barcelona is back! The reigning kings of Spain will be looking to start their title defence on a winning note as they travel to the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, a ground that has proven difficult in recent times for the Catalans.
Getafe barely survived the relegation battle last season, hanging on by the skin of their teeth, thanks to Jose Bordalás, a well known coach of the Madrid side. He's back and we know what to expect from Getafe: a difficult contest with plenty of toiling and physicality from a well drilled side. They played 6 games in preseason, winning 4, the latest a 4-1 drubbing of Vitesse. This will give them some confidence going into their La Liga opener. But they've got big work on their hands as FC Barcelona come to town.
Barça won the league a few months ago in stunning fashion with 4 games to spare and finished 10 points above second placed Real Madrid. The team has grown considerably under Xavi, incorporating some elements of modern football while retaining the original Cruyffian DNA. It was a bit touch and go for the most part last season, primarily due to Injuries to key players. But with a fully fit squad, along with the quality additions, we can expect better performances all round from the champions. We saw glimpses of that in preseason, starting with a 5-3 loss to Arsenal, followed by victories against Real Madrid, Milan and Spurs. Now the real business starts, at Getafe.
INTERESTING STATS
-Getafe have finished 15th in each of their last three league campaigns.
-Barcelona have found the back of the net in 21 out of their last 23 away fixtures.
-Getafe have been winless in their last five matches against the Catalan giants.
-Barcelona have an excellent recent record against Getafe and have won 28 out of the last 40 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Getafe's two victories.
- Getafe have picked up points in three of their last six matches against Barcelona in La Liga - as many times as they had managed the feat in the 15 such games preceding this run.
-Barcelona are winless in their last three matches away from home against Getafe in La Liga - their longest winless run at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez in the top flight.
- Barcelona have won the opening game of the season in 12 of their last 14 La Liga campaigns, with their only such defeat during this period coming by a 1-0 margin at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in 2019.
-Getafe have lost nine of their last 12 opening games in La Liga and will face Barcelona in such a game for the first time in their history.
Last five meetings
16/04/23 Getafe 0-0 Barça
22/01/23 Barça 1-0 Getafe
15/05/22 Getafe 0-0 Barça
29/08/21 Barça 2-1 Getafe
22/04/21 Barça 5-2 Getafe
TEAM NEWS
Getafe
The Deep Blue Ones have been active in the summer market, boosting their squad with the arrivals of Omar Alderete, Gaston Alvarez, Portu, Choco Lozano, Sergi Altimira, Jose Angel Carmona and Daniel Fuzato.
There have been exits as well, like Munir El Haddadi, Angel Algobia and Jaime Seoane, so Getafe may be wearing a bit of a new look this season.
Mauro Arambarri will be out until the latter stages of the month due to an ankle injury, with Luis Milla and their last season's top scorer Enes Unal also on the sidelines.
Damian Suarez, Stefan Mitrovic, Omar Alderete and Fabrizio Angileri are expected to shield David Soria in goal.
Carles Alena, Nemanja Maksimovic and skipper Djene Dakonam will be the three in the centre of the park.
Portu and Jaime Mata will start out wide as the wingers, with Juanmi Latasa or Borja Mayoral will be leading the attack.
Barcelona
Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Franck Kessie and Ousmane Dembele are gone; İlkay Gündoğan, Iñigo Martinez, Oriol Romeu have arrived and Ez Abde has returned. Potential additions to the first team include Fermin Lopez, Lamine Yamal and João Cancelo of Manchester City. So perhaps Barcelona will be having a bit of a new look in the new season as well.
For this game however, the starting lineup pretty much picks itself. I don't think we should expect too much tinkering from the team that started the El Clasico friendly in Las Vegas.
Zamora champion Marc Andre TerStegen will start in goal. He too has a point to prove this season as newly minted Captain. He'll be guarded by the trusted quartet of Balde, Koundé, Araujo and Christensen; the last two only just recovered from knocks.
Romeu and Gündoğan are expected to make their debuts alongside Pedri and DeJong in midfield, with Pichichi winner Lewandowski up front with Raphinha. Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez, Sergi Roberto, Gavi and Lamine Yamal will be waiting to come on and make a difference as well.
Where and when are Getafe vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Madrid, Spain
Stadium: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez
Date: Sunday 13 August
Kick-off Time: 20:30 BST / 15:30 ET / 12:30 PT
Referee: Cesar Soto
Winning a title is easy, defending it is hard. Barcelona know they'll have to double up on their efforts in order to retain the league title and more this season.
Getafe can be very hard to beat sometimes, especially at the coliseum and under Bordalás, but Barcelona are expected to walk out of there with all 3 points. And maybe a clean sheet too?
It's not football, it's La Liga.