Getafe and Real Zaragoza go into Sunday's game with seven points separating them in the table and having enjoyed - or endured in Zaragoza's case - differing fortunes throughout the campaign.Los Azulones brought back a point from an organised performance away to Barcelona last weekend, while Zaragoza suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Real Betis.
A late strike from the now departed Andres D'Alessandro cancelled out Francisco Sousa's opener and secured Zaragoza a share of spoils when the two teams met at La Romareda earlier in the season.
So Close...
Getafe come into the match with Zaragoza having suffered a cruel exit from the Uefa Cup at the hands of Bayern Munich in midweek, and having played much of that game with ten men, some fatigue is sure to creep into Sunday's game, regardless of whether coach Michael Laudrup decides to make changes to the starting eleven.
Having lead 3-1 going into the second half of extra time, Getafe crumbled after goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri made a horrendus error to let Bayern back into the game, with Luca Toni adding an equaliser with the last play of the match to send the Germans through on away goals.
The draw - in somewhat unfair terms - means that Getafe have failed to win any of their last six games in all competitions and although Laudrup should certainly be commended for the fine job he has done so far this campaign, he really needs to steer them to victory over Valencia in next week's Copa del Rey final in order to secure some silverware and add some gloss to a good season.
Getafe's future in the Primera Division will be totally secure with just another couple of victories, so it is likely that Laudrup will prefer to concentrate on the Copa del Rey final for now, even though he will protest that they are taking each game as it comes when he talks to the media.
Despite that, with Zaragoza in such dreadful form, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that even an understrength Getafe side could take the three points on Sunday, especially considering the support they are likely to have from the home crowd, ready to show their support to the team after their galiant performance on Thursday.
Still Sliding
Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Zaragoza as they capitulated to a 3-0 home defeat against Betis last weekend, a result that extended their winless run to four games, and left them three points shy of safety, which currently comes in the form of 17th placed Recreativo.
Zaragoza have picked up just four points from the last twenty-seven on offer, a shocking run of results, which has put their top flight status in serious danger and which needs to be halted as soon as possible if they are to avoid what currently looks like the inevitable fall to the Segunda.
Coach Manolo Villanova has done little to stem the tide since taking over from Javier Irureta, save their 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid in his first game in charge, and it seems that his appointment was not a fourth time lucky for a Zaragoza board that went into this campaign hoping to see their side challenge for a top four finish.
With the players that Villanova has at his disposal, the results should be a lot better than they currently are, and he will be left to hope that the return to fitness of Pablo Aimar manages to stir some sort of reaction from his team in the remaining games of the season.
A cursory glance at Zaragoza's team-sheet would seem to indicate that they are the proverbial team that is 'too good to go down', but unless they spring into life, and do so pretty sharpish, there could be a lot of renowned footballers looking for a new club come the end of the campaign.
