By Khilen Mehta

The Copa del Rey may not have the same magic as its English equivalent but for Getafe and Valencia, the national cup competition remains their only attempt to salvage some silverware from two completely contrasting seasons.

For Getafe, triumphing in the nearby Vicente Calderon stadium would mean lifting their first ever piece of silverware, and make up for last seasons heartbreaking defeat to Sevilla in the final. After their cruel exit to Bayern Munich in the UEFA cup just last week, victory in the final would mean an immediate return to the competition for Getafe next season. Not only did Bayern equalise with just a minute to go to send the tie into extra time, but two goals in the last 5 minutes of extra time from Luca Toni ensured Bayern progressed  to the next round on away goals.

A win in the final for Valencia may give manager Ronaldo Koeman a fighting chance of hanging onto his job following a disastrous season. Many expected Valencia to be fighting for a champions league place at the beginning of the season, but under the leadership of Koeman, Valencia find themselves in 15th spot after only winning one of their last nine games.

 With so much at stake for both teams, not least personal pride, this is sure to be a fascinating fixture. Don’t miss out!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.