UEFA Europa League Play Off - Getafe vs APOEL Niscosia
Getafe were all set to play their season opener tonight, they were hosting Apoel Nicosia in the stadium, Cloiseum Alfonso Perez. For what was the Spanish team's first leg match in the Europa League playoff match.
Getafe managed to make it back into European competition after a two year absence. The Spanish based team had a great run in their domestic league last season. However they sold two of their best players over the course of the summers, those two players being Soldado and Pedro Leon. The Spanish team is well known for its fast paced counter attacks and ruthless ability to kill any game.
Their coach would have been counting on those players to prove their worth tonight, in what was set to be the teams most important match in the last two years. APOEL has a tremendous run in Europe last season, where they managed to make it as far as the group stages of the Champions League, however this game was going to be completely different from a group stage game. It was a game where there were no second chances, they would have had to give it their all and then do the same a week from now.
APOEL were on the back of successive wins going into the match, they had previously beaten Tauras and Jablonec going into the game tonight. Although they had not faced any opposition as capable as Getafe so far, they seemed to have been ticking the right way and were looking like they would have been able to cause an upset or two tonight.
The match got underway with both teams going toe to toe initially. However the experience and midfield dominance of Getafe started to cave in and the Spanish side started to take the reigns of the game. Getafe easily looked the more threatening of the two sides and APOEL could do nothing but watch the home team go all out against them. However Getafe managed to create numerous chances but didn't manage to finish them off as they would have liked to.
The match was a constant attack and defence with no one really testing the goal keeper for most of the first half. On the forty third minute right before the end of the opening half, Parejo struck for the home side. This goal saw Getafe go into the break with the advantage in their hands. However both the managers knew that the match was far from over and the second half would have had it all to play for.
The second half got under way, with both teams looking to go at it all over again. There were no changes to either side as both the managers like what their teams were doing so far. However neither team looked as though they were going to create any openings for most of the second half and lacked the essential final fire power.
Getafe seemed to be the happier of the two teams, having gotten the one goal advantage in the first half. The home crowd seemed to try to get behind the home team and urge them on to play better. The players responded by trying to up their games, however they just couldn't find an opening in front of the goal.
The game started to die down near the end of the second half, with Getafe happy with their one goal and APOEL knowing that they could easily turn the tie around in the return leg. The match eventually drew to a close, with the score line reading one goal to nil. The home side had managed to win the crucial fixture but they would have to do it all over again in the second leg.
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