By Opta Analyst | Created at 2024-11-28 13:05:34 | Updated at 2024-11-28 15:55:06
2 hours ago
They are the most direct team in Europe’s top five leagues, and they are either top or bottom of several interesting metrics. We take a look at Getafe and their relatively un-Spanish approach to football.
It’s fair to say that Getafe head coach José Bordalás has not made many friends at Barcelona over the years.
The identity of the famous Catalan club who pride themselves on the mantra of ‘take the ball, pass the ball’ is, on paper, diametrically opposed to Bordalás’ methods.
Former Barça boss Quique Setién said of Getafe in 2020: “This isn’t football. It’s something else and it makes my blood boil.”
After their 0-0 draw on Matchday 1 of the 2023-24 season, then Barça manager Xavi raised slightly subtler concerns about Getafe’s style of play, to which Bordalás replied: “Xavi’s comments are a way of justifying that he hasn’t gotten the three points with a great squad.”
Those tensions may need to simmer down on Sunday though when Getafe travel to the Santiago Bernabéu, where Barcelona will hope they can do them a favour against Real Madrid. With Carlo Ancelotti’s injury-ravaged side smarting after their Champions League defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday, it could be the perfect time to play them.
It is technically a derby game, though is hardly seen as the Madrid derby. Los Azulones (‘The Blues’ in Castilian Spanish) are not even close to as glamorous as Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid, and they lean into that fact on the pitch.
As you can see below, when measuring direct speed upfield and passes per sequence, Getafe stand out as the fastest and most direct team in Europe’s top five leagues. It might not seem the most Spanish of approaches, particularly when people picture the great Barcelona and Spain teams of 2008-2012, but Bordalás is entirely unapologetic about it.
He likes to field questions about how his teams play the game, frequently uttering his catchphrase “This is football, papa”, which often only serves to further anger those who disagree with his tactics.
There have been inevitable comparisons to José Mourinho, but Bordalás insists he has taken more from his idol Johan Cruyff. The 60-year-old said to Relevo last year: “I am not a coach who has a defensive style.
“My role model is Johan Cruyff as a coach. People are surprised, but I instil Cruyff’s intensity in my players.” This led to significant mirth from Barcelona fans as it came just a few weeks after they were left frustrated by Getafe’s tactics in a 0-0 draw.
Bordalás has been in management since he took charge of his hometown club Alicante in the mid-1990s. It wasn’t until he led Alavés to promotion to La Liga in 2015-16 that his top-flight story began, though. Well, it almost did as he was sacked by the club before the new season even started, deemed not good enough despite getting them there in the first place.
Bordalás dropped back down the Segunda División in 2016-17 and took Getafe up to La Liga instead, this time being kept on and earning an impressive eighth-place finish the following season. He improved on that in 2018-19 with a fifth-place finish, only missing out on Champions League qualification on the final day.
Ahead of the 2021-22 season he was appointed head coach of Valencia but lasted just one year despite reaching the Copa dey Rey final. His style of football was assumed to be the reason for the dismissal.
Getafe clearly didn’t mind it, though, bringing him back for a second spell in April 2023, winning three of their last six games to stay up on the final day of the season. They finished 12th last season, and are 15th after 14 games in 2024-25, having only secured their second league win of the campaign over Real Valladolid last Friday.
Whatever Bordalás does seems to broadly work. So what has been so contentious about Getafe’s style of play?
In summary, they’re fast, they’re direct, their games are broken up more than any other, and they seemingly have little interest in completing passes.
Yes, Getafe are a conundrum, so with the help of Opta data, we’re going to try and figure them out. Or at the very least, give you a better of idea of why they are one of the most interesting teams in European football.
Last year, Bordalás said: “The essence of football is being lost a bit and too much impact is being given to things that are natural. For example, we are a league where, and this is not a criticism, all fouls are called, there is no rhythm of play, there is no help from almost anyone. Everything is being exaggerated. We are seeing incredible penalties being called.
“The coaches, in my case, before a game and during the week have to constantly warn the players to be careful with each jump, to be careful with their hands, not to go to the ground, although these are natural things in a game, in a contact sport.”
Some would argue that it was interesting to hear Bordalás talking about how often fouls are called. He’s not wrong, especially in games featuring his own team. Getafe have been awarded the most fouls in Europe’s top five leagues this season (204), while they have also conceded the most fouls (234).
In terms of fouls awarded per game, they drop to third behind Bologna and Montpellier, but remain first for fouls conceded per game.
That has led to their games being broken up regularly, which is one of the key sources of frustration for the opposition. On average, the ball has only been in play for 46.5% of Getafe’s La Liga games this season. No other team has seen the ball in play for less than 50% of their games (Alavés next lowest with 50.2%).
It may partially be a result of Getafe being involved in so many duels. They have competed in 1,783 duels this season, 326 more than the next most in La Liga (Alavés with 1,457), with a success rate of 49.2%. Of those, 650 have been aerial duels, 161 more than anyone else (Mallorca with 489), with a success rate of 51.9%.
On a per-game basis, Getafe comfortably compete in the most duels per game in Europe’s top five leagues (127.4), ahead of Leicester City (110.6) and Monaco (110.5).
People generally associate Spanish football with possession. Looking after the ball and passing with care and precision.
Getafe do not do this.
Not only have they attempted the fewest passes per game in in Europe’s top five leagues this season (294.9), their passing accuracy of 69.8% is also the lowest of any team in those leagues. Getafe average just 105.2 passes per game in their own half, comfortably the fewest, showing how little time they have for building attacks from the back, they just want to get the ball forward and see what happens.
They have recorded the fewest build-up attacks in Europe’s top five leagues, with just three. These are open-play sequences that contain 10+ passes and either end in a shot or have at least one touch in the box. In fact, Bordalás’ team only average 2.1 passes per sequence, also the lowest in Europe’s top five leagues, but all this doesn’t mean they cede possession all the time.
For example, in their Matchday 1 draw at Athletic Club they had just 30.9% of the ball, while they only had 22.1% in their narrow 1-0 loss at Barcelona in September. They have had less than 40% possession in five of their 14 league games in 2024-25, but have also had 56.1% against Real Valladolid, 59.1% against Leganés and 64.4% against Valencia.
It seems they can therefore adapt to the situation. They were unusually dominant with the ball in last Friday’s 2-0 win over Real Valladolid, although they still somewhat rode their luck at both ends, recording almost half their opponents’ expected goals total (0.59 to 1.13).
That was despite having twice as many shots as their visitors (12 to 6), which is a bit of a theme. Getafe have attempted the joint-fifth most shots in La Liga this season (178) but have the worst shot conversion rate (5.6%) and have scored the joint-fewest goals (10).
They very much go for quantity over quality in front of goal, and it doesn’t seem to be paying off right now. Four of Getafe’s 10 La Liga goals have been from the penalty spot, three have come from corners, one from a direct free-kick, and one from a throw in. They have only scored one goal from open play in 14 games, and that was the result of a long ball over the top that was pulled back for Álvaro Rodriguez to score against Real Valladolid last week.
Uruguayan midfielder Mauro Arambarri is the only Getafe player to have scored more than once in the league this season with four, and two of those have been penalties.
Despite their generally direct nature, only bottom-placed Valencia (seven) have had fewer direct attacks than Getafe’s nine in La Liga. This is the number of open-play sequences that start just inside the team’s own half and have at least 50% of movement towards the opposition’s goal and end in a shot or a touch in the opposition box.
And despite not being a defensive team according to their boss, they are quite defensively sound. They may have scored the fewest goals in La Liga, but only Atlético (eight) have conceded fewer than their 11 goals against, with Getafe having the fourth best xG against in Spain’s top flight (13.1). In fact, only one of their 14 league games has featured more than two goals (a 2-1 defeat at Real Betis), so if it’s high-scoring action you’re after, you’ll likely be left disappointed watching Getafe.
It might not be a surprise given their high number of duels, but Getafe have the most defensive actions (426) of any team in Europe’s top five leagues, while in La Liga, only Real Sociedad (9.4) and Barcelona (8.9) have lower PPDA (opposition passes per defensive action) than their 10.2. They clearly make opponents work hard in possession.
That is also shown by the fact only Barcelona (118) have made as many as Getafe’s 115 high turnovers in La Liga, while no other team has managed as many as their 23 shot-ending high turnovers. However, Getafe are one of only five La Liga teams not to have a goal-ending high turnover this season.
They have also recorded the most pressed sequences in La Liga (196) in 2024-25. These are sequences starting in the opposition’s defensive third where the opposition has three or fewer passes, and the sequence ends in their own half.
Another area where Getafe stand out is that they are starting their open-play sequences from the furthest distance from their own goal on average of any team in La Liga (44 metres).
That somewhat backs up Bordalás’ assertion that his team do not play defensively, which Xavi has previously agreed with, saying last February: “Getafe are not a defensive team, they are a brave team. They press very high up the pitch… They always compete and Bordalás always gets the most out of his players, and that is worthy of praise.”
Coupled with that, they also move the ball faster than anyone in Europe’s top five leagues, with direct speed (progressing the ball upfield in open play sequences) of 2.36 metres per second this season.
In other words, they don’t mess around getting from A to B.
Bordalás likes to bring in hard-working players from lower leagues rather than attempt to compete for more polished gems.
A recent example of this is Christantus Uche, who was signed from Ceuta in the third tier in the summer. The 21-year-old has recorded the most duels (228) in La Liga and has been awarded the second most fouls (37) after Vinícius Júnior (40). Uche only has one goal in 14 league games, but he is used more as a focal point and a disruptor.
The Nigerian has mostly played as a midfielder in the past, but has largely been used up front by Bordalás. The image of a striker wearing the number 6 will also be enough to irritate plenty of traditionalists.
That’s not to say Getafe don’t have flair players, though. Luis Milla has created 33 chances, with only Raphinha (44) and Álex Baena (41) ahead of him in La Liga, while former Bournemouth left-back Diego Rico has been putting cross after cross into the box, with his 62 open-play crosses and 19 successful open-play crosses both the most in La Liga.
It would be silly to lavish too much praise on a team who sit 15th in the table, but whether you like them or not, Getafe have proven themselves to be a tricky opponent for anyone.
With all that awaiting Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid on Sunday, it promises to be a unique test of the La Liga leaders and reigning champions of Europe.
Is Getafe and Bordalás’ approach to everyone’s taste? Clearly not, but who is anyone to judge?
After all, this is football, papa.
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