Five months later than planned, it will still happen, and the Italian Inter and the Spanish Getafe will cross swords in the eighth finals of the Europa League on Wednesday evening. The battle for a place in the quarterfinals will be decided in just one match, with the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen in Germany as the stage for battle. The Italians are top favorites, although the Spaniards are masters at getting their opponents’ blood out of their nails.
Inter:
Inter will look back on the past football year with mixed feelings. The club from Milan competed for the title in the Serie A for a long time, but eventually had to watch how arch-rival Juventus again managed to get away with the Scudetto. In the Coppa Italia, the Nerazzurri were sent home in the semifinals by later winner Napoli, and in the Champions League they were eliminated already in the group stage. Trainer Antonio Conte was unable to contain his frustrations last weekend and, after the 0-2 win at the end of the season against Atalanta, mercilessly lashed out at the club management: ‘I don’t think my work and that of the players is sufficiently recognized. If you want to knock Juventus off the throne you will have to be strong both inside and outside the lines. I would like to discuss this with the chairman. ‘ According to Gazzetta dello Sport, this public outburst has been misunderstood by the Inter board, which would consider exchanging Conte for Massimiliano Allegri or Mauricio Pochettino after just a season.
It is therefore quite restless around the technical staff of Inter, although the Milanese are still among the list of top favorites for Europa League wins. Logical, because with players such as Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen and Lautaro Martinez, Inter mainly has several world leaders at the forefront. It is not without reason that the blue-blacks were the second-most scoring team of Serie A last season. Also in the back, reliable players such as Diego Godin, Ashley Young and Stefan de Vrij are mustache among the Italians. The Europa League is not always taken seriously, but you can bet that Inter will kick off very motivated on Wednesday evening. Ultimately, football is about winning prizes, something the team has not been able to do since 2011. So it is high time for a new grand prize.
Getafe:
Getafe is perhaps this season’s biggest bad luck. The Spaniards managed to surprise both inside and outside their own borders. In the Spanish Primera Division, the Madrid could dream of Champions League qualification for a long time, and in the Europa League the formation of coach Jose Bordalas even stunted against Ajax. However, the corona outbreak threw a spanner in the works, because when the ball finally started to roll again after a break of more than three months, the blue shirts were no longer a shadow of themselves. Getafe eventually managed to win only one of the eleven remaining league matches, resulting in a disastrous eighth place in LaLiga. That means that we will not see Los Azulones back on the European fields next season. Only with Europa League wins, the Spaniards still take a starting ticket for the Champions League, but given the lousy form, even the most optimistic Getafe supporter does not dare to dream of such a scenario.
Getafe’s decline did not come out of the blue. After all, the Bordalas team should not rely on refined technique and smooth combinations, but rather on a combination of hard work and luring the opponent out of the tent. Chasing the supporters of the opponent was an important part of the Spanish battle plan, but because no supporters are still welcome, that aspect is of course dropped. With Djene Dakonam and Marc Cucurella, the Getafe have some potential golden roosters in the ranks, but otherwise the selection of the Madrilenians mainly consists of elderly home-garden-and-kitchen footballers. It just makes the performance of Bordalas even better in my opinion – he really did get the most out of his player material. His Getafe is the obvious underdog on Wednesday evening, although Cucurella does not want to know anything about it: ‘The fact that LaLiga already ended more than two weeks ago is in our favor. We have had a good rest and are ready for the cracker against Inter. If we win on Wednesday evening, we will wash away the bitter aftertaste of the Primera Division lock in one go.
PREDICTION: Inter to win @ 1,67
