Getafe moved a step closer towards avoiding relegation at the weekend, beating near neighbours Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at home to move into fourth place, 16 points clear of La Liga’s drop zone.
Hang on…wait: we just used the phrases ‘avoiding relegation’ and ‘fourth place’ in the same sentence? Surely that can’t be right? Well, yes…according to Getafe boss Jose Bordalas, at least, the club’s only objective for the campaign is to avoid finishing in the bottom three.
This isn’t particularly new, of course: plenty of managers err on the side of caution and attempt to keep their players’ feet on the ground by watering down expectations and refusing to set lofty objectives.
Bordalas, though, is taking that approach to extremes, after seeing his team rise above traditional powerhouses such as Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla – above everyone, in fact, except Barcelona, Atletico and Real Madrid – to move into the Champions League places with two-thirds of the season completed.
Looking purely at the cast of characters assembled by Bordalas, you would probably share his pessimism. Perhaps the only Getafe player well-known to a general audience is former Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who is now 34 years old and was signed on a free transfer after being released by Crystal Palace and not playing for months.
Alongside Flamini, the Getafe squad would appear to comprise an unpromising mix of has-beens, never-weres and never-will-bes, and the idea that they are pushing for a place in the Champions League rather than scrambling to avoid the drop looks patently absurd.
However, that is precisely what they are doing because Bordalas’s Getafe – like all good teams – are more than the sum of their parts, reliant upon collective understanding rather than individual brilliance.
Statistics make it clear that Getafe’s success is built on defence: they have only conceded 22 goals in 25 league games, the third-lowest tally in La Liga after Atletico and Valencia.
And, indeed, the regular back four works extremely well. Former Sevilla goalkeeper David Soria is an excellent shot-stopper, the outstanding Djene Dakonam forms a strong central partnership with Leandro Cabrera, while full-backs Damian Suarez and Vitorino Antunes are both experienced, battling performers who offer plenty coming forward as well as being solid defensively.
Bordalas is attempting to water down expectations.
However, Saturday’s performance against relegation-threatened Rayo, when they could have won much more comfortably than just 2-1, showed there is more to Getafe than just defending well – a lot more.
To the credit of Bordalas, the biggest compliment you can pay to his team is that they do everything together: when they attack, the whole team contributes with the emphasis on playing through the midfield and using the full-backs to create plenty of width; when they defend, everyone works hard to maintain the team’s shape, denying space to the opposition and leaving Getafe well positioned when they regain possession.
This collective mentality has allowed players to shine far beyond any expectations. Right-sided midfielder Dimitri Foulquier, for instance, looks a completely different proposition from the man who laboured rather unremarkably through the last few years with Rennes, Granada, Strasbourg and Watford, who sent him out on loan before allowing him to play a single game.
And in attack, Getafe boast the second-most prolific strike force in the country (after Luis Suarez and some other guy) in the surprising form of Jaime Mata and Jorge Molina, who both scored against Rayo on Saturday (with the former unselfishly teeing up the latter for the winner) to take their personal tallies to 10 league goals apiece.
Mata, 30, had never played in the top flight before this season, while former Betis stalwart Molina – now 36 – is supposed to be gradually winding down his career but is instead prompting his team’s fans to chant for a call-up into the Spanish national team.
The next few weeks will be crucial in Getafe’s quest for European football: on Sunday they travel to face fellow top four contender Betis, and a fortnight later they are on their travels to Valencia.
But – like Sevilla – both those upcoming opponents are still involved in energy and attention-sapping cup campaigns, whereas Getafe have a clear run to focus their efforts on finishing as high as possible in La Liga.
Or, as their manager would probably put it, on avoiding relegation.
