Real Madrid visit Getafe in big game for top 4

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-24 19:48:43|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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MADRID, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid visit Getafe on Thursday night in a game to test coach Zinedine Zidane and to decide which team to finish fourth in the Liga Santander and qualify for next season's Champions League.

Getafe are currently fourth in the table after a 3-0 win at home to Sevilla last Sunday, but could go into the game in sixth place if Valencia win away to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night and Sevilla beat Rayo Vallecano (which seems likely) in an earlier kick off.

Getafe have been very hard to beat under coach Pepe Bordalas as their weekend performance again made very clear, and in strikers Angel Rodriguez, Jaime Mata and Jorge Molina, they have three players able to score at the slightest opportunity.

Meanwhile, their mean defense will be a test for Madrid's in-form Karim Benzema, who scored a hat-trick against Athletic Club Bilbao at the weekend.

Vinicius Jr has still not fully recovered from his ankle injury and Alvaro Odriozola will miss the rest of the season with a broken collar bone, but the coach is likely to continue with his policy of squad rotations, which could see Nacho Fernandez and Isco back in the Madrid starting 11.

Rayo Vallecano will travel to Sevilla at the bottom of the table after Huesca's 2-0 win at home to Eibar on Tuesday night, but knowing that a win would lift them to within just three points of safety.

The problem for the Madrid based side is that top scorer Raul de Tomas is suspended for the game.

Thursday's final match sees Real Sociedad at home to Villarreal, who have won their last two league games to climb out of the bottom three and who could just about seal their top-flight survival after a difficult year with three points in Anoeta.

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