LEVANTE UD (Estadi Ciutat de Valencia)

LA LIGA, LEVANTE 3-0 GETAFE, ATTENDANCE: 13,665

After a day a sightseeing in Valencia and a lovely meal at La Pepica, a restaurant on the beach front, it was time for another slice of Spanish football.

We were absolutely stuffed on Paella and decided to walk it off and, as luck would have it, it was about 5km from the beach to the ground so it was a leisurely stroll to the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, the home of Levante Unión Deportiva.

The club were founded in 1909, a decade before Valencia CF, but have spent virtually all of their existence in the shadow of their more famous neighbours. Another club, Gimnástico FC, were also formed in 1909. After Levante's ground was destroyed in the civil war and Gimnástico lost most of their players, the two clubs merged in 1939.

The club made it's debut in La Liga in 1963 and stayed there for two seasons before spending the next four decades flitting between divisions two and three. The club returned to La Liga in 2004 but went straight back down. The club really established themselves in La Liga after 2010, when they won promotion once more and have stayed ever since, even managing a last 16 run in the Europa League in 2012/13.

When purchasing tickets for the game you could not help but notice posters in the shop window referring to Levante's "Los Rebeloes" Johan Cruyff was there (he played 10 games for the club in 1981) and also a certain Arouna Kone. Koné was on loan at Levante, and scored the winner against Real Madrid in September 2011.

Koné was rested for the final three games of the season because he was "scoring too many goals" as if he reached 18 he would have to return to Sevilla automatically, which he did not want. He moved to Levante on a permanent basis, though the club sold him on immediately to Wigan Athletic for a tidy profit.

Levante were bottom of the table at the start of play having only won four games all season. They were taking on mid-table Getafe but the way they played this evening, they did not look like a bottom of the league side.

The Levante attack was led by former Manchester United player Guiseppe Rossi, who has signed for the club on loan from Fiorentina until the end of the season, and he helped inspire the team to a much needed three points. José Luis Morales opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a superb solo effort, when he cut in from the left, beat a couple of defenders and shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Rossi (43) who doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after Morales was upended.

Getafe had chances in the second half, Álvaro Vázquez missing a virtual open goal from four yards out, steering his effort hitting the post when it was easier to score.

If Getafe had managed to get one back then I suspect the home side may have crumbled. However, In the 81st minute, Joan Verdu made the game safe for the home side to lift them off the foot of La Liga.

Pre-match was spent in a little cafe yards from the ground, where a fine selection of bottled beer was available. Post-match it was back to my favourite Valencian craft ale bar for one last round of drinks, the more direct walk into the city centre taking about 35 minutes.

Graffiti written on one of the toilet doors in the ground.
If only he would..... 

GETAFE CLUB de FUTBOL (Coliseum Alfonso Pérez)

LFP PRIMERA DIVISION, GETAFE 1-2 GRANADA, ATTENDANCE: 5,987

This weekend I headed over to Spain for a short break. I was hoping for a double header, combining a trip to Getafe with a visit to Atletico Madrid but sadly the kick off time was not kind to me (Spanish football is notorious for not deciding kick off times until only a few weeks beforehand, so this is not helpful when you have to book early to get cheap flights!) so I had to make do with just the one match (incidentally Atletico and Bilbao played out a drab goalless draw).

Getafe is part of the Community of Madrid and it is a short 25 minute hop on the metro from Madrid city centre to Los Espartales (and an easy 3 minute walk to ground from there). The club was originally founded in 1946 as Club Getafe Deportivo, though a Getafe Futbol Club had existed from 1924-1932 in the lower reaches of Spanish football.

After spending many years in the lower divisions of Spanish football, the club reached the second (Segunda) tier in 1976 before being liquidated and relegated in 1982.

The current club came into existence in 1983 after Club Getafe Deportivo's youth set up merged with Club Deportivo Pena Getafe.

The 'new' club climbed up through the leagues in the following decade and eventually reached La Liga in 2004, where they have remained to this day. They have mostly spent their time in the mid to lower reaches of the table, but did finish 6th in 2010 to qualify for the Europa League. They had previously played in Europe a couple of years earlier by virtue of being runners up to Valencia in the Copa del Rey. They lost on away goals to Bayern Munich in the quarter final in front of a capacity crowd.

Getafe play their homes games at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. The stadium was inaugurated on 1st January 1998 and is named after the Spanish international Alfonso Pérez, even though he never played Getafe, though he was at the club as a youth. The ex-Real Madrid and Barcelona man is arguably the most famous footballer to come out of the area, having been born in Getafe.

The ground is all seated but has limited cover (only the top tier of the main stand is covered) and is fully open to the elements, Fortunately the weather was lovely and warm for this early evening kick off. I opted for the stand behind the goal, where the Getafe Ultras are located. This was the cheapest ticket at €30. The ground was barely over a third full today.

Getafe are safe from relegation for another season and played the game as such, whereas Granada had it all to play for as they needed the points in their own fight against the drop. It was Granada who therefore played the game with a bit more intensity. 

Youssef El-Arabi (14) opened the scoring for visitors from the penalty spot after a handball from defender Naldo. Pedro León (45) equalised with virtually the last kick of the half when his weak shot squirmed past goalkeeper Roberto at his near post and into the net.

In the second half El-Arabi (59) scored a superb header to give Granada the three points and coach José Ramón Sandoval a victory in his first game in charge.

You can see the goals by clicking here