Getafe host Deportivo as Hidalgo admires Bordalás

Getafe host Deportivo at the Coliseum this Sunday at 18:30, a game Antonio Hidalgo, the newly promoted Galician side's coach, is treating as the opening test of a punishing week that also brings Sevilla and Betis. The match, which Movistar LaLiga will broadcast, pits a Getafe side sitting fifteenth on 4 points from 12 available after four games against a Deportivo team arriving from Riazor hoping to keep an unbeaten run alive with talk of Champions League ambitions.

Hidalgo, a student of Bordalas

Antonio Hidalgo admitted a few days ago that he still has plenty to learn from Jose Bordalas, the coach who has given Getafe a defensive identity recognised across La Liga. Hidalgo said he would get his first lesson this Sunday and hoped it would not be a hard one, aware that the Coliseum, whose expansion works are edging the stadium closer to a look reminiscent of Stamford Bridge, is no easy venue for a side new to the top flight.

Bordalas will stick with his usual 5-3-2, built around Kiko Femenia, Abqar and Zaid Romero at the back, a defence that turns physical toughness into an identity, with Mario Satriano and Enes Unal leading the attack. It is the club's trademark approach, one built to make life uncomfortable for any visitor, and something Hidalgo himself has flagged in his preparation.

A gruelling week for Deportivo

The Galician club faces three tests in just eight days that could define its start in the top division: Getafe, Sevilla and Betis, with the latter two back at Riazor. Marc Casado, a recent arrival at Deportivo, is competing with Riki for a starting spot, while Yeremay is nursing a groin problem that the club has given no firm timescale for but which should not rule him out this Sunday. Leo Roman, valued for his precise passing out from the back, will again be tasked with building play under pressure from Bordalas's block.

The table and what comes next

Getafe arrive on the back of a 1-1 draw at the Coliseum against Celta Vigo on 7 September, with Satriano scoring in the 21st minute before Sweden's Carl Starfelt equalised in the second half, assisted by Iago Gonzalez. After four league games, Bordalas's side have one win, one draw and two defeats, with two goals scored and five conceded, and sit eight points behind leaders Barcelona.

The next fixture comes quickly, away at fifth-placed Betis on 17 September, a side Getafe beat 2-0 the last time the two met, on 8 March. The full schedule for this demanding stretch is available on the fixtures page, while the squad list for Sunday's game can be checked on the squad page. The league table, with Getafe still well off the European places, is updated on standings. Kick-off, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ximo Navarro and Jose Maria Gimenez among the over-thirties in the Galician lineup, is set for 18:30 this Sunday at the Coliseum.