In football there are practically as many tactics as there are coaches, each one with its innumerable variants, although ultimately it is often enough to have a goalkeeper who saves and a striker who scores goals. This maxim, as simple as it is empty, but effective on so many occasions, was one of the pillars that sustained Real Madrid's brilliant last season.
When the rival pressed and defeat seemed close, the whites clung to the inspiration of Courtois and Benzema, leading actors in the Madrid epic. For the first time since the initial qualifying rounds of the Cup last year, Carlo Ancelotti's team appeared this Saturday at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez without their safety net, the Belgian going down due to sciatica and the Frenchman as a precaution, muscle fatigued.
The absence of both gave birth to a team that took the victory with a single goal from Militão (0-1) and, while waiting for Barça's match, recovered the leadership of the Santander League with order, solidity, but without the spark provided by Benzema, always the axis of all the attacking plays. In defence, however, they left for the first time with a clean sheet and did not notice the absence of Courtois, an almost unprecedented Lunin.
In addition, the match turned face very soon for Chamartín's men, in the 3rd minute, at which time Militão, after getting rid of Mitrovic's mark and overcoming Duarte, opened the scoring with a corner kick with a powerful header at the near post. The central defender made up for the mistake he made the previous year in Getafe and that cost his team defeat (1-0).
Despite the madridista goal, the plan of those from the south of Madrid did not crack: well closed behind, with a defense of five, and with Mayoral and Ünal trying to catch a counterattack supported by the sporadic rises of the lanes.
In that scenario, without feeling threatened, the visitors felt very comfortable, so much so that at times they forgot to attack Soria's goal.
Possession was not in danger despite the absence of Kroos, substitute in favor of Camavinga, and on the other hand, the locals did notice the loss of Arambarri in midfield. In the first half, the whites only suffered in an isolated play in the 22nd minute , when Angileri shot a cross and Mayoral missed the goal by inches. Madrid's response came in a great team move that culminated in a good save by Soria after Rodrygo's header.
On the verge of half-time, Mateu Lahoz signaled a clear penalty from Milla to Vinícius, but the VAR annulled the action as the ball had gone out over the touchline earlier.
After the restart, Getafe came out of the cave from the start and the madridistas paid for their audacity with a triple chance. Between Soria and Angileri they repelled shots from Rodrygo, Tchouaméni and Modric. In the other goal, Aleñá tested Lunin for the first and only time, who deflected a shot from the former Barça player for a corner. Rodrygo did manage to score the next time and again the VAR invalidated the action, in this case for offside.
The narrowness of the scoreboard gave way to a final hour of speculation. Madrid attacked but without much conviction, with few troops so as not to break down, and Getafe was debating the moment to stretch lines, to break the defensive block. Quique Sánchez Flores tried to change his forwards, first with Munir and then with Latasa. With nothing to lose, the azulones left and even so they managed to disturb a Madrid with a trade that is already looking at the classic next day against Barça on the horizon.
