🏏 Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:00 CEST
Getafe
vs
Rayo Vallecano
4-4-2 vs 4-2-3-1
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- Two clubs locked together on eight points meet here. Getafe are 15th after eight matches with two wins, two draws and four defeats, while Rayo Vallecano sit 14th from seven games with two wins, two draws and three losses. Espanyol in 13th and Racing Santander in 16th are also on eight points, so with Barcelona running away at the top on 27 from nine, the winner gains real separation in a congested mid-table.
- The numbers paint opposite pictures. Getafe have scored just four goals and conceded ten in eight matches, grinding out 1-1 draws with Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruna and a 1-0 home win over Malaga. Rayo have been far wilder, with 11 goals scored and 16 shipped in seven games: heavy away losses of 5-2 at Barcelona and 4-1 at Real Madrid, offset by home shootout wins of 3-2 over Racing and 2-1 against Espanyol.
- Johan Mojica meets a former club. The 34-year-old Colombia international left-back counts Rayo Vallecano among his previous clubs before spells at Girona, Atalanta, Elche, Villarreal, Osasuna and Mallorca. Left-footed and relentless going forward, his overlapping runs and crossing will be tested directly by Rayo's right-back Ivan Balliu in what should be an end-to-end flank battle.
- Getafe line up 4-4-2 with Enes Unal leading the attack. The 187cm Turkey international, now 29, scored 34 goals in 104 appearances for Getafe and has Manchester City and Villarreal on his CV. Alongside him is Ramon Terrats, a 26-year-old left-footed central midfielder by trade who came through at Girona before moving on to Villarreal and Espanyol, an unusual pairing for a side with only four league goals so far.
- Experience dominates the Getafe midfield. Nemanja Gudelj, 34, is a Serbia international comfortable at both centre-back and holding midfield after stints with Sevilla, Ajax and Sporting CP, and he doubles as a set-piece taker. On the right sits 35-year-old Kiko Femenia, who passed through both the Barcelona and Real Madrid youth systems and spent five seasons at Watford. Mario Martin, a 22-year-old Real Madrid academy graduate, adds legs.
- Rayo's attacking trident is small, quick and dangerous. Alvaro Garcia, 33 and just 167cm, holds the club's La Liga appearance record and still shreds defences down the left. Isi Palazon, 31 and 169cm, is a left-footer stationed on the right who lives for the cut-in shot. Leading the line is Jorge de Frutos, a 173cm Real Madrid Castilla product who scored 13 goals in 112 games for Levante before returning.
- The holding midfield duel could decide the tempo. Rayo screen their back four with Pathe Ciss, the 186cm Senegal international and Africa Cup of Nations winner whose range and ball-winning anchor the side at 32. His partner Unai Lopez, 30, came through the Athletic Bilbao academy and keeps the ball superbly despite standing 170cm. Their passing exchange with Gudelj will shape how open the game becomes.
- Veterans marshal both back lines. Rayo centre-back Florian Lejeune, 35 and 189cm, has played for Manchester City, Newcastle, Eibar, Alaves and Villarreal, and brings reading of the game plus leadership. Balliu, the 34-year-old Albania international schooled at Barcelona B and later at Metz and Almeria, covers the right. Getafe captain Djene Dakonam, a 34-year-old Togo international, organises in front of 192cm goalkeeper David Soria.
- The benches offer genuine alternatives. Getafe can turn to Borja Mayoral, the 29-year-old Real Madrid academy striker with Roma, Levante and Wolfsburg behind him and a sharp instinct inside the box. Rayo have captain Oscar Valentin, who climbed from the lower divisions with Rayo Majadahonda, plus Georgia winger Giorgi Tsitaishvili, a Dynamo Kyiv graduate, and Brazilian forward Alemao, whose career has taken in Kyoto Sanga and promotion-winning form at Real Oviedo.