Getafe host Villarreal in the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Thursday night with the tie finely poised after Villarreal's 1-0 win at El Madrigal last Wednesday.
Getafe defended well against a dominant Villarreal side and looked to be escaping with a goal-less draw until substitute Bruno gave El Submarino Amarillo the advantage ahead of the second leg at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Villarreal can now afford to lose by the odd goal as long as they score but Marcelino's side will be hoping to avoid defeat and protect their unbeaten run which now stands at seventeen games without a loss.
Getafe’s recent form hasn’t been as impressive as Villarreal’s although they did end a run of nine league games without a win on Monday with a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo. That win moved El Geta up to fourteenth in La Liga but they are eighteen points adrift of Villarreal who sit sixth.
The home side will be without Vicente Guaita, Mehdi Lacen, Angel Lafita, Juan Valera, Yoda, Michel and Roberto Lago. Their eighteen man squad includes several youngsters including Ivi and Alex Felip.
Villarreal will be without Bruno and Adrian Marin but they do have new loan signing Joel Campbell available. Campbell arrived as part of the deal that saw Gabriel Paulista move to Arsenal and the Costa Rican winger will be desperate to see some first-team action; to prove that he is worth considering in the Premier League side's plans for the future.
With the Getafe side understrength it is difficult to see them get the result they require against an in-form Villarreal side. A clean sheet will be vital for Quique Flores' side to have any chance of progressing and Villarreal have scored in each of their last twenty-four games which makes a difficult job look almost impossible.