Getafe return to European football after nine years away LaLiga Could still qualify for the Champions League The 2018/19 season will be remembered as a phenomenal year for Getafe no matter what happens in the remaining three fixtures, with the Madrid club returning to European competition for the first time in nine years. Yet, with a couple more positive results, the season could turn from phenomenal to miraculous with the possibility of Champions League qualification certainly being tangible for Pepe Bordalas' charges. It was just two years ago that Getafe were playing in LaLiga 1|2|3, and now they're on the cusp of taking at seat at the table reserved for Europe's elite clubs. Results of teams around them have gone in Getafe's favour of late, yet a potentially tricky home tie against Girona on Sunday lunchtime could well be decisive in their pursuit of fourth place.<doc-sep>MADRID (AP) — Getafe lost 2-0 to Barcelona on Sunday, dropping out of the qualification places for the Champions League with one round left in the Spanish league. The modest southern Madrid club had held on to fourth place for 11 of the last 12 rounds, but it will go into next weekend in fifth place and needing some help to earn its berth in the European competition for the first time in its 36-year history. Valencia overtook Getafe for fourth place with a 3-1 home win against Alaves. The teams are level on 58 points, but Valencia is ahead on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Sixth-place Sevilla still has a chance to earn the final Champions League spot after a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid. It will need to win its final match against Athletic Bilbao at home and hope for setbacks by Valencia at Valladolid and Getafe against Villarreal. With Barcelona having already secured the title, Atletico clinched its second straight second-place finish with the draw against Sevilla. Real Madrid ended third after a 3-1 loss at Real Sociedad, a result that kept the team winless in five away matches since coach Zinedine Zidane returned. Madrid hadn't finished outside the top two in the league in consecutive seasons since 1973-74. Villarreal, Levante and Valladolid escaped relegation, with Celta Vigo and Girona still trying to avoid the final demotion spot. Girona has few chances of surviving, though, because of a six-goal disadvantage in the tiebreaker against Celta. "I have to apologize, I failed," Girona coach Eusebio Sacristan said in an emotional news conference following the team's 2-1 loss to Levante at home. Rayo Vallecano and Huesca were already relegated. Barcelona, coming off its Champions League elimination against Liverpool, played with most of its regular starters against Getafe at Camp Nou Stadium, including Lionel Messi. Arturo Vidal opened the scoring in the 39th minute, and an own-goal by Djene Dakonam in the 89th sealed Barcelona's victory. Story continues "Anything can still happen," Getafe coach Jose Bordalas said. Barcelona still has the Copa del Rey trophy to play for. It will face Valencia in the May 25 final in Seville. Real Madrid took the lead over Sociedad with Brahim Diaz's first goal with the club early in the first half, but the hosts rallied to earn the victory. Atletico Madrid opened the scoring against Sevilla with a goal by Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion in the first half, with the visitors equalizing through Pablo Sarabia after halftime. It was the last home match for Atletico defender Diego Godin, who recently announced he will not stay with the club next season. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/apf-Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ___ Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni<doc-sep>Barcelona respond to Anfield nightmare with win over Getafe Barcelona vs Getafe Damaged Getafe's Champions League chances After humiliation in Europe on Tuesday, Barcelona put a dent in Getafe's hopes for qualifying for next season's Champions League with a 2-0 win at the Camp Nou. Arturo Vidal opened the scoring in the first half and a Mauro Arambarri own goal secured the three points for Ernesto Valverde's team. Getafe thought they'd taken the lead midway through the first half when Jorge Molina stole away from the Barcelona defence and swept the ball past Jasper Cillessen. However, after a VAR review, Molina was deemed to have been offside when played through by Dimitri Foulquier and the goal was disallowed. With an already restless crowd growing increasingly impatient, the hosts got exactly what they needed six minutes before half time. Lionel Messi's freekick found Gerard Pique who saw his goal-bound header kept out brilliantly by David Soria, only for Vidal to react first and poke into the back of the net. With the collapse at Anfield still fresh in people's minds, with masses of empty seats and with players like Philippe Coutinho targeted by whistles from the crowd, even a half time lead didn't seem like enough. That one-goal advantage would've quickly become two, and maybe three, if it wasn't for Getafe goalkeeper Soria at the start of the second half. First, he stuck a hand out to block Messi's attempted finish before dashing across to keep out Malcom from close range a few minutes later. When Soria was beaten just after the hour mark, defender Leandro Cabrera came to the rescue to clear Messi's lobbed effort. Despite the narrow scoreline, Getafe couldn't mount any sort of goal threat for the majority of the second period. That was until a hopeful cross was floated towards Hugo Duro, who nodded it across goal to find Molina, but the forward could only hit the near post. A Getafe player did find the net moments later, but it came up the other end when Arambarri deflected past his own goalkeeper. The defeat leaves Jose Bordalas' side level on points with Valencia but behind their top-four rivals in fifth due to an inferior head-to-head record against them. Match Sheet: 2 - Barcelona: Cillessen, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Vidal, Rakitic (Alena, min. 62), Malcom (Semedo, min. 78), Messi, Coutinho (Abel Ruiz, min. 69). 0 - Getafe: David Soria, Damian Suarez, Djene, Cabrera, Olivera, Foulquier (Saiz, min.75), Maksimovic, Arambarri, Shibasaki (Portillo, min. 46), Jorge Molina, Angel Rodriguez (Duro, min. 86). Goals: 1-0, min. 39: Vidal; 2-0, min. 89: Arambarri (own goal) Referee: Jose Luis Gonzalez Yellow Cards: Foulquier (min. 37) for Getafe, Olivera (min. 52) for Getafe, Vidal (min. 76) for Barcelona, Djene (min. 94) for Getafe. Red cards: None Stadium: Camp Nou Attendance: 57,088<doc-sep>
Valencia secured Champions League football for the second year in a row by winning 2-0 at Real Valladolid on Saturday, clinching fourth place in La Liga at the expense of Getafe, who drew 2-2 at home to Villarreal. Marcelino's side had to win to guarantee finishing fourth and they took the lead in the 36th minute through Carlos Soler. Rodrigo, who had played a crucial in the opening goal by winning back possession, scored the second from close range in the 52nd minute as Valencia ended the campaign on 61 points, two ahead of Getafe, who came fifth with 59 points and qualified for the Europa League. Marcelino's side will have an extra spring in their step when they face Barcelona in next week's Copa del Rey final where they will be looking to add shine to an impressive end to what has been a turbulent campaign. Valencia were languishing in 12th position in the standings in December and there were repeated calls from supporters for head coach Marcelino to be sacked. "It has been a very difficult year with a lot of demanding games," said captain Dani Parejo. Image: Espanyol celebrate getting a Europa League place "We didn't make the best start but by working hard we've managed to turn things around. We've achieved our first objective and now we have another final on Saturday." Getafe needed to better Valencia's result to qualify for Europe's elite competition for the first time and took an early lead through Francisco Portillo, although Villarreal's Vicente Iborra levelled before half-time. They retook the lead through Nemanja Maksimovic, only for Gerard Moreno to equalise with three minutes left after a howler from goalkeeper David Soria saw the ball trickle over the line. Even though they missed out on the coveted fourth spot, Getafe still achieved their highest points total in the top flight and the players carried head coach Jose Bordalas on their shoulders at the end of the game. Sevilla also qualified for the Europa League by coming sixth with 59 points after winning 2-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao, which meant Espanyol finished seventh and qualified for Europe at the Basque side's expense. Espanyol qualified for the competition by the skin of their teeth, though, as Athletic's Inigo Martinez hit the woodwork in stoppage-time before Sevilla's Munir El Haddadi scored at the other end. A draw would have meant Athletic finish seventh. Espanyol's supporters staged a mass pitch invasion to celebrate the club's return to European competition for the first time in 12 years. "It's impossible to forget this moment," said Espanyol coach Rubi. "I've not cried for a long time but today I did, and veteran players are crying, the dressing room is flooded with tears."