No Fear
Getafe stayed in the Primera Division by the skin of their teeth last season and have since seen Michel replace Victor Munoz as manager so one would be forgiven for thinking that Barcelona will come and take the three points without much of a fight.
However the Azulones have a history of giving Barcelona a run for their money in recent seasons and have only lost two of their last six league games against the Catalans and both were narrow 1-0 losses.
While they lost this fixture last season, the previous year they beat Barca 2-0 and three players in that side, David Cortes, Cata Diaz and Manu del Moral, are likely to line up against the Blaugrana tomorrow.
Michel has promised that his side won't fear Barca and Manu, Parejo and Mane have all come out this week insisting that they can beat the champions. El Geta certainly are well capable of far more than their poor league finish last year would suggest.
However the Azulones have a history of giving Barcelona a run for their money in recent seasons and have only lost two of their last six league games against the Catalans and both were narrow 1-0 losses.
While they lost this fixture last season, the previous year they beat Barca 2-0 and three players in that side, David Cortes, Cata Diaz and Manu del Moral, are likely to line up against the Blaugrana tomorrow.
Michel has promised that his side won't fear Barca and Manu, Parejo and Mane have all come out this week insisting that they can beat the champions. El Geta certainly are well capable of far more than their poor league finish last year would suggest.
Complacency Could Be Costly
Pep Guardiola's men have been on a magnificent winning streak that has brought trophy after trophy to Camp Nou in recent months and raised the bar for teams all over Europe. However Barca showed hints of complacency towards the back-end of last season losing to Mallorca and Osasuna, albeit they were already league champions, but this is proof that even the best are not invincible.
Barca requested that this game be moved forward in order to prepare for Inter, despite having almost their entire first team away on international duty this week. They may be taking their eye off the ball here and Getafe are ready to punish them if they do.
They are likely to play without Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves who only arrived back from South America on Friday and this could well play in their favour as players coming in to the team will be desperate to prove themselves worthy of a starting place.
Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergi Busquets and Pedro will all be keen to put in big performances to catch the eye of Pep Guardiola while the return of Rafael Marquez and Andres Iniesta will give those in the first eleven plenty to think about.
They are likely to play without Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves who only arrived back from South America on Friday and this could well play in their favour as players coming in to the team will be desperate to prove themselves worthy of a starting place.
Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergi Busquets and Pedro will all be keen to put in big performances to catch the eye of Pep Guardiola while the return of Rafael Marquez and Andres Iniesta will give those in the first eleven plenty to think about.
FORM GUIDE
Getafe
Getafe
Aug 30 Racing 1-4 Getafe (La Liga, Round 1)
Aug 22 Getafe 2-0 Real Zaragoza (Friendly)
Aug 18 Cordoba 1-2 Getafe (Friendly)
Aug 10 Udinese 1-2 Getafe (Friendly)
July 31 Waldhof Mannheim 0-2 Getafe (Friendly)
Barcelona
Aug 31 Barcelona 3-0 Sporting Gijon (La Liga, Round 1)
Aug 28 Barcelona 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (UEFA Super Cup)
Aug 23 Barcelona 3-0 Athletic Bilbao (Supercopa, 2nd Leg)
Aug 19 Barcelona 0-1 Manchester City (Trofeo Joan Gamper)
Aug 16 Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona (Supercopa, 1st Leg)
TEAM NEWS
Getafe
Getafe
Michel has every reason to retain the side that won so convincingly away to Racing. Derek Boateng and new signing Pedro Leon may push for a starting place but it's unlikely Michel will change a winning side.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Ustari – Cortes, Diaz, Rafa, Mane – Rios, Parejo, Celestini, Adrian Gonzalez – Manu, Soldado
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Ustari – Cortes, Diaz, Rafa, Mane – Rios, Parejo, Celestini, Adrian Gonzalez – Manu, Soldado
Barcelona
Pep Guardiola said that he has enough players for the season ahead once everyone is fit. While he is still without long-term absentee Gabriel Milito he will be pleased to have Andres Iniesta and Rafael Marquez available again. Bojan Krkic is still out and will be missed as Lionel Messi is set to be rested
Dmytro Chygrynskiy could make his debut with Carles Puyol switching to right-back in place of Daniel Alves.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Valdes – Puyol, Chygrynskiy, Pique, Abidal – Xavi, Keita, Busquets – Pedro, Ibrahimovic, Henry
Dmytro Chygrynskiy could make his debut with Carles Puyol switching to right-back in place of Daniel Alves.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Valdes – Puyol, Chygrynskiy, Pique, Abidal – Xavi, Keita, Busquets – Pedro, Ibrahimovic, Henry
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Getafe
Getafe
After bagging a hat-trick on the opening day of the season, Roberto Soldado's confidence will be sky high and he will once again provide Getafe's most potent attacking threat.
Barcelona
He hasn't kicked a ball since the Champions League final win in May but Andres Iniesta is itching to get back in the Barca team. He is likely to start from the bench but if the game is close, Pep Guardiola will have no qualms about sending the midfield dynamo into action.
PREDICTION
The decision to move the game forward to Saturday to allow Barcelona to concentrate on next Wednesday's Champions League tie against Inter will help the home side, who were largely unaffected by international absentees this week. These games are usually quite tight but the influential Iniesta might provide Barca with that little bit extra from the bench.
Getafe 1-2 Barcelona
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