Chivas start friendly Spain tour by defeating Getafe

Chivas started their Spanish tour with a great result, getting a 1-0 win over Getafe. Chivas struggled at times, but struck at the right moment to get a victory in their debut on the Spanish tour. Chivas will continue by playing against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

The first half started with Chivas coming out with what could be their best lineup for this coming season. The lineup went with Carlos Cisneros and Angel Zaldivar up top, although they were missing World Cup starter Alexis Vega and participant Roberto Alvarado, who are still out on vacation after participating in Qatar 2022. It was a very rainy day, and that seemed to be going to hurt both teams. Munir El Haddadi got off a left footed shot that forced Chivas’ goalkeeper Miguel Jimenez to make a save. The rebound fell to Luis Milla, but his right footed shot went wide. A great free kick by Milla almost got deflected in, but it went inches wide. A cross into the area almost went in when Gilberto Sepulveda crashed into Juan Mata, but he was able to deflect Mata’s shot into a corner kick. The rain started to increase, which hurt the level of play on the field. A cross into the area from Chivas finally created some danger, but the ball was cleared just before Zaldivar could get to it. The halftime whistle blew, ending a half with few opportunities but almost all of them being for the home team.

The second half had Chivas not making any subs, while Getafe made one as both teams hopped to improve on their level from the first half. A great cross by Jesus Sanchez was just cleared by Milla before it got to Zaldivar. Chivas then subbed out Cristian Calderon, Isaac Brizuela, Eduardo Torres, Jesus Sanchez, and Angel Zaldivar for Alan Mozo, Pavel Perez, Alejandro Mayorga, Ruben Gonzalez, and Santiago Ormeño. A good combination play was finished with Cisneros making a good cross into the area, where Fernando Beltran got a right footed shot past Getafe’s goalkeeper David Soria for the 1-0 lead.

While Chivas had never really threatened, they got a goal in their first truly dangerous chance. Chivas then subbed out Fernando Beltran and Gilbert Sepulveda for Zahid Muñoz and Antonio Briseño. Chivas came close again when a great pass into the area from Muñoz found Cisneros, but his right footed shot went just wide. A cross into the area found attacker Portu, who got a header that was saved by Jimenez. The ball fell back to Portu, who got off a left footed shot that Jimenez also saved. Carlos Cisneros was then subbed out for Sebastian Perez Bouquet, who arrived from the World Cup after being used in the sparring team that trained with the National Team. Borja Mayoral then got off a left footed shot in the area that was saved by Jimenez. A cross by Portu turned into a shot that Jimenez saved. Even with all the attacks from Getafe, Chivas was able to hold on for the victory.

Chivas got a great result to open their short exhibition tour in Spain. Although it’s just a preseason friendly, it was still a good result. Chivas doesn’t normally play away in places like Spain, and beating a La Liga team is a great start. Chivas defended well, and although they rarely controlled possession, they did enough to get the result against a Getafe team that woke up late after trailing and didn’t have time to mount a comeback. Chivas will now play on Sunday in the legendary stadium of San Mames against Athletic Bilbao to conclude their short tour before their return to Mexico to take part in the 2022 Copa por Mexico.