This season has been one of plenty surprises in La Liga with the biggest of those being the demise of Real Madrid. They come up against another of the division’s surprise packages on Thursday night as they make the short trip across the capital to face Getafe.

STATS

• Getafe really have had an exceptional season in the league so far this season and they are on the verge of qualification for the Champions League for the first time. They currently sit 4^th in the table but after winning two of their last five, they have by no means confirmed their top-four place. They picked up arguably their biggest result of the campaign last time out, beating Sevilla 3-0 at home.
• Real Madrid have had a shocking season by their standards as they don’t have a single trophy left to play for with over a month left of the season. Zinedine Zidane has been re-appointed to steady the ship that he jumped off and they have won four of the six games he has taken charge, including their comfortable 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
• The form of Getafe’s two front men has been vital in their push for Europe as Jaime Mata has 14 league goals and six assists while Jorge Molina has 13 goals and four assists.
• Karim Benzema has had a decent goalscoring season and has improved since the return of Zidane. His hat-trick against Bilbao took his tally for the season up to 21 in the league.

HEAD TO HEAD

Real Madrid will take plenty of confidence from their record against Getafe as they have won each of the last 10 fixtures against them in the league with the underdogs’ last victory coming at the beginning of the 2012/13 campaign. In eight of those wins, Madrid managed to score three or more goals while Getafe have scored just four in the last five meetings. The meeting earlier this season finished 2-0 to Los Blancos at the Bernabeu.

GETAFE NEWS

With both Valencia and Sevilla just two points behind Getafe in the race for the top four, the home side need at least a point on Thursday evening. Djené Dakonam is suspended whilst his team-mates Markel Bergara and Vitorino Antunes are still ruled out through injury.

Latest matches: Getafe CF

21.04.2019	LaLi	Getafe CF	Sevilla FC	3:0	W
14.04.2019	LaLi	Real Valladolid	Getafe CF	2:2	D
07.04.2019	LaLi	Getafe CF	Athletic Bilbao	1:0	W
02.04.2019	LaLi	Espanyol Barcelona	Getafe CF	1:1	D
30.03.2019	LaLi	Getafe CF	CD Leganes	0:2	L

REAL MADRID NEWS

It is now impossible for Real Madrid to win the league title this season but they must finish the campaign with some pride at the very least. Marcelo is suspended, Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Ramos are both injured but Vinicius Junior and Thibaut Courtois may return to the side.

Latest matches: Real Madrid

21.04.2019	LaLi	Real Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	3:0	W
15.04.2019	LaLi	CD Leganes	Real Madrid	1:1	D
06.04.2019	LaLi	Real Madrid	SD Eibar	2:1	W
03.04.2019	LaLi	Valencia CF	Real Madrid	2:1	L
31.03.2019	LaLi	Real Madrid	SD Huesca	3:2	W

SUMMARY

Real Madrid have been slightly better since Zinedine Zidane’s return to the touchline but with very little left to play for, it may be hard for him to motivate his players ahead of this one. Their defensive record has been shocking this season which is why I expect both teams to score and over 2.5 goals to be scored, backing the draw also looks very good value.