Getafe 0 – 1 Real Madrid (Militao). Here’s our quick reaction right at the final whistle. Still to come: Player ratings, post-game quotes, post-game podcast, statistical analysis, and plenty more.
As Getafe would’ve wanted it to be, tonight’s match at Coliseum Alfonso Perez was largely uneventful, tight, sparse on chances, and laborious.
That suited Quique Sanches Flores’s men just fine. Getafe defended in a 5-3-2 deep block and allowed Real Madrid to bring the ball out of the back before being met by numerous defenders covering every channel in the attacking third. Getafe’s defenders plugged holes in both half-spaces, had coverage on both flanks, and conceded very few transition opportunities for Vinicius Jr, Fede Valverde, and Rodrygo Goes to pounce on.
Real Madrid’s winning goal came from a source that has not been abundantly productive for the team this season: A set-piece. Luka Modric hit an in-swinging corner, and Eder Militao, through some clever movement, rose to head the ball in at the near-post:
Chances were limited from there on in. Many of Real Madrid’s shots were resorted to long-distance shots — the overwhelming majority of them well wayward. The team had to work hard to carve out space for higher quality chances in the box. In one instance in the first half, the team worked it around patiently to find Vinicius a free header in the box which Soria saved. In the second half, Vinicius Jr carried the ball down the line and cut it back to Aurelien Tchouameni, whose shot was right at Soria — as was the rebound from Luka Modric.
The game remained tight throughout pretty well the entire game, as Getafe, unlike most teams who go down a goal, did not open up much until close to the 90th minute. This meant that there was not much room to run into as the game wore on.
We’ll break this game down in much more detail in the coming hours in both written and podcast form. Use this thread for post-game discussion.