Spanish FA Screw Getafe Over Proposed Champions League Places

Getafe are said to be outraged at plans from the Spanish FA that would see them miss out on a Champions League spot.

There is growing consensus that the 2019/20 campaign will not be completed due to the indefinite suspension of football in Spain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

As outlined by Marca and Cadena Cope, the Spanish FA say that the four Champions League places would go to the current top four in La Liga – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Real Sociedad and Getafe and Atletico de Madrid would go into the Europa League

This decision has infuriated Getafe due to their current league position as they are level on points with fourth-placed Real Sociedad and the two have the same goal difference.

La Real are ahead in the standings due to having scored more goals than Jose Bordalas’s side, but this is even more controversial due to the league’s head-to-head rules.

La Liga rules stipulate that if teams finish level on points, head-to-head record between the teams will be decisive and only if they are the equal, will the decision be deferred to goal difference.

However, that is only applicable if teams have played each other twice but Real Sociedad and Getafe have met just once this season – when Getafe won 2-1 in San Sebastian.

Getafe boss Bordalas is cited by the reports as saying ‘when a championship ends, the first criterion is the individual confrontation’, while the club president Angel Torres was even more indignant.

Torres is cited as saying that the Spanish FA have ‘no right’ to make these lists and added: “What we want is to play. Getafe wants to earn whatever we get on the pitch.”