Getafe's Míchel wary of visiting OB
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Article summary
Getafe CF coach Míchel will know from experience that Odense BK are not a side to be underestimated as the Danish outfit head for Spain looking to make a positive start in Group H.
Article top media content
Article body
Getafe CF coach Míchel will know from experience that Odense BK are not a side to be underestimated as the Danish outfit, with a new coach at the helm, head for Spain looking to make a positive start in UEFA Europa League Group H.
Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition.
• Getafe's only previous meeting with Danish opponents saw them win 2-1 at Aalborg BK in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage.
• OB's nine games against Spanish sides have ended W2 D0 L7 (W1 D0 L4 away).
• That sole away win was a 2-0 success against Getafe's near neighbours Real Madrid CF which helped secure a 4-3 aggregate victory that knocked the Spanish giants out of the 1994/95 UEFA Cup third round. That triumph was celebrated as 'The Miracle in Madrid'.
Match background
• Getafe are unbeaten in ten European games – six wins and four draws – since losing 2-1 at home against Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage.
• That loss to Hapoel remains their only home defeat in seven continental outings.
• OB are unbeaten in their last five European fixtures.
• The Danish side competed in the 2006/07 group stage, but finished fourth in the five-team section, which included another Spanish side, CA Osasuna.
Team facts
• 'The Miracle in Madrid' was the only one of OB's four games against Real Madrid that Getafe coach Míchel did not play in. The former midfielder featured in a 4-1 win in Odense, a 6-0 triumph at the Santiago Bernabéu in a 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round tie, and another 3-2 win in Denmark in the first leg of the fateful 1994/95 encounter.
• One of the five locally born players at the heart of Madrid's successful 1980s and 1990s sides – dubbed the Quinta del Buitre (the Vulture's Cohort, in honour of their leader Emilio Butragueño) – Míchel won six Spanish titles and two UEFA Cups as a Madrid player. Initially a TV pundit after retirement, Míchel went into coaching with Rayo Vallecano, joining Getafe in April 2009 after a spell with Real Madrid's academy.
• OB parted ways with coach Lars Olsen on 14 September, bringing to an end a three-year tenure at the club. They have installed Uffe Pedersen in a caretaker's role, the 56-year-old having previously been in charge at OB between 2002 and 2004.