So instead of seeing the Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, the first televised match of the 2007/2008 season we witnessed was Sevilla against Getafe. After watching a morning full of Premier League soccer, it was soon very apparent how much of a gulf there is between the talent in the English league and La Liga.
Without a doubt, the first half of the Sevilla match was far more entertaining than the three EPL matches combined that I watched earlier that day (Sunderland v Liverpool, Arsenal v Man City and Everton v Blackburn). The Spanish league game was much more open, skillful and more beautiful to watch than the Premier League variety.
In the first half of the match, Getafe took a shock lead with a fantastic free kick that swept over the defensive wall and into the back of the net. Later in the first half, two Getafe players were shown the red card and before the half-time whistle blew, one Sevilla player collapsed and swallowed his tongue causing a panic among the players and medical staff on the pitch.
It was also a pleasure to hear the return of GolTV’s Ray Hudson and Lindsey Dean behind the mics as they delivered a solid commentary.
Sevilla, despite no Dani Alves and a poor start to the match, quickly overcame Getafe in the second half with some wonderfully taken goals (most of which were carbon copies of each other — crosses coming in from the left wing by Duda for Sevilla attackers to meet the ball by head or foot in the box.
Sevilla’s manager, Juande Ramos, will undoubtedly sleep easy tonight after his side’s 4-1 victory against Getafe.
