Real Valladolid and Getafe played a very important match on Sunday. Real Valladolid are in a difficult position. Before this match, they were sat in 17th place in the table, but Villarreal, who were sat in 18th place, had the same points score. Real Valladolid have scored the least goals in La Liga this season, only 24 goals in 31 matches. They have also recorded the lowest xG in the league this season, 28.52 (before this match).
Getafe have played a fantastic season and are fighting for a place in the UEFA Champions League. Manager José Bordalás is doing a fantastic job. Before the match, the team were in 4th place in the table (one more than Sevilla, who were in 5th place). Getafe has recorded seven defeats, only Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Valencia have recorded fewer defeats in the league this season.
Line-ups
This season, Real Valladolid have played in various different formations. Their manager Sergio González has used the following: 4-4-1-1, 4-3-1-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-4-2 and 3-4-1-2, but in most matches, he has stuck with the 4-4-2. That was the case in this match also. Goalkeeper Jordi Masip was on the bench (for the first time in La Liga this season). Striker Enes Ünal was in the starting 11, which is the first start for him after five La Liga games.
Getafe played in their standard 4-4-2. The team uses this formation under Bordalás’ guidance. Dimitri Foulquier missed the match due to injury problems.
Real Valladolid’s attacking play
Real Valladolid dominated the possession with 60%. That was expected because Getafe has recorded the lowest average percentage of ball possession this season in La Liga (41.3%). Valladolid’s average percentage of ball possession in La Liga this season is 47.5%.
Valladolid wanted to play out from the back. Usually, the right centre midfielder Anuar dropped deeper to create numerical superiority (3v2 situation). Getafe played defence in 4-3-1-2. Right striker Ángel Rodríguez closed down the left centre-back, while left striker Jaime Mata closed down Anuar. One of the Getafe’s midfielders closed down Valladolid’s second central midfielder.
Generally, Kiko was a free player and he had a lot of space. Often he ran with the ball and tried to exploit that space.
Valladolid attacked down the flanks. This team has recorded 602 crosses this season in La Liga (the highest number of crosses after Eibar, Real Madrid, and Sevilla). Their plan was to find a free man in wide areas. Valladolid used a few patterns.
Generally, Valladolid’s strikers were positioned between centre-backs and side-backs. In that way, two strikers controlled four of Getafe’s defenders. That created a space for Valladolid’s side players and also created a good situation for strikers in the penalty area.
Getafe’s strategy
Getafe tried to solve this problem. Sometimes Getafe’s wingers dropped deep to form a back six.
Getafe didn’t want to hold up the ball. So Valladolid easily forced them to go long. Getafe scored in the first half after a long-range free kick. Before that goal, Getafe were defence oriented and after that goal even more so. Their plan was to play long. Usually, they played long to the wide area. The nearside striker went into a wide area and together with the winger, tried to win the ball.
Second-half drama
The start of the second half was chaotic. There were a lot of fouls and a lot of mistakes on both sides. Getafe still forced long balls, despite having situations where they could play out from the back.
Valladolid still played down the flanks. Getafe was little offensively oriented, so Valladolid tried to used that with long balls to wide areas.
From the 63rd minute, Getafe played with 10 players. Olivera was sent off, meaning Getafe switched to a 4-4-1 formation. Valladolid played out from the back easily because they had a numerical advantage. A few minutes after Olivera’s sending off, Valladolid got a penalty.
Anuar got injured and Sergio González replaced him with Joaquín Fernández, who plays as a centre-back. From that moment, Valladolid switched to 5-4-1. Getafe was in result’s deficit, so they decided to press high.
In the 94th minute, Getafe got a penalty and 36-year-old Jorge Molina scored it.
Conclusion
It was a difficult game in which there wasn’t a lot of shots (eight from both sides). Valladolid’s xG was 1.2, but 0.76 relates to the penalty. Getafe’s xG was slightly higher at 1.68 but 0.76 also relates to their penalty. We couldn’t see many goalscoring opportunities.
With this draw, Valladolid fell to the relegation zone and Getafe fell to 5th position.
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