Getafe (Spain) (Home) 08.08.2026

The Spurs team put out by Roberto De Zerbi probably contained fewer of the team that would start against Brentford in a couple of weeks time when the season begins, but this game was about getting time into players’ legs although it only consisted of two 35 minute halves.  Having said that, the Spurs XI played all of the match with no substitutes making it off the bench.  With two matches in two days against Hoffenheim next weekend, I imagine that the plan will be to play two teams with one of them close to what will be the starting line-up at the GTech.

Despite the start of yet another heatwave this summer, the two teams gave energetic performances with enough goal chances to make it interesting.  And it was Getafe who made the first foray into the Spurs defensive third as they won a corner that Richarlison headed away before being headed by Dakonam.  Then it was Tottenham’s turn to attack, when Lucas Bergvall showed good footwork to make space for a shot on the edge of the box, but he didn’t make a clean connection, with the keeper having plenty of time to get down behind the shot.  Getafe then worked the ball across from the left to find Drammeh in space in the right side of the box, but Archie Gray had read the play well and got across from his right back position to block the shot for a corner.

With the ball being passed around, there was only the odd foot left in by Getafe that broke up play until the 25th minute when Sandro Tonali looked to thread a pass through to Richi, but it was cut out by a defender.  On the half hour, Spurs worked a good move with a pass in behind the defence finding Archie inside the right side of the area where he held off Drammeh to dink a ball to the far post.  Richarlison headed it back for Bergvall to attack it, but Dakonam was all over him and conceded a corner, which would probably have been a penalty in a proper match.  Meanwhile, Drammeh had taken umbrage to Gray’s challenge and kicked off, causing a melee around the Tottenham skipper, with the referee having to talk to both players.

The last incident in the first half came two minutes before what turned out to be a very short interval.  Another late tackle gave Spurs a free-kick out on the left wing and Andy Robertson swung it in being met by Ben Davies’ head, but he put it straight at the keeper, with play moving on before being ended by yet another late tackle and what looked to be like another flashpoint before the ref brought the first half to a rapid close.

The teams turned around after a couple of minutes break the teams took to the field again and a minute after the restart, Montes came inside from the right and smashed a shot that swerved away from goal and Tottenham had a great chance a couple of minutes later when Mathys Tel played a ball across the face of goal and although Mikey Moore threw himself at it, he couldn’t get a touch on it.  When a ball was played forward to Lucas, Drammeh flew into him and finally went into the referee’s notebook.

A Spurs corner was won by Jan Paul van Hecke headed the ball down and the keeper waved at it as it came up to head heigh, but Richi got onto the loose ball with a header and the keeper awkwardly palms the ball around the post before our Brazilian striker shot into side netting.  There were claims that the ball had crossed the line, but such arguments were redundant when the ref gave a foul for the original van Hecke challenge on Dakonam.  Tottenham were finding god space and Lucas was moving forward with the ball, as Conor Gallagher looked to pass into Richarlison’s path, but the keeper was out quickly to claim it at the feet of the striker.

After a couple of late tackles on Gallagher and Richi, the ref talked to both Dakonam and Bergvall.  With 50 minutes gone, a free-kick was given to Spurs inside the D a foot outside the 18 yard line in a great position, but when Tel took it instead of Robertson, he hit the wall with a weak shot.  It went for a corner, which the keeper flapped at but it was hacked away from goal.  Mathys was looking to get players into the box and a ball slid down the left side of the box on ground for Tonali was claimed by the keeper again, but next time, Tel did find Robertson in behind the full back and he lifted a ball to the far post and Mikey met it with a header back the way it came but it cleared the far post.

Somewhat against the run of play, a well-worked goal opened Spurs up through the middle in the 55th minute.  Substitute Terrats played the ball to Risco infield to the left and the little forward played a one-two with Burgos and ran free into box to shoot past Kinsky from 10 yards with his left foot.  There was a lot of space 30 yards from goal for Getafe to work the move, with that lack of awareness by the Spurs defensive midfielders providing the opportunity for the Spanish side to capitalise on it.  

The lead didn’t last too long, as in the 59th minute, Tonali played the ball in to Richi’s feet, a defender takes him down and it ran towards Bergvall who was offside in the box.  He sensibly left it for Gallagher who had continued his run to take the ball between two defenders and slide it past the keeper to level things up.  It was a good piece of anticipation by Conor, who could add a few more goals to his game.

On the hour, having got into the box behind the full back, Tel played another ball across the six yard box but there was nobody on hand to finish it off.  With six minutes remaining, the temperature rose again, with Getafe’s Martin smashing into Tonali late to justify Gibbo’s comments in pre-match and again, the players swarmed around after Sandro had pushed the offender in the chest and the referee had to calm things down once more.  The former Spurs striker had said that Getafe wear the underdog tag and with a massive churning of players from season to season, they feel that their best chance is to mix it physically with the opposition.  That’s was interesting, as they didn’t seem capable of taking a physical challenge without causing a ruck. 

The last action of the game came three minutes before the end with Gallagher playing a fine cross-field pass to Mathys Tel and he lifted the ball into the goalmouth.  Richarlison got onto the end of it with a header, but it was weak and that allowed the keeper to bat it out and the chance wasn’t taken.

It will be classed as a useful workout as long as no injuries were picked up against a side that put in some naughty tackles.  Some good football was played by Spurs, but the lack of a finish to the moves cries out for a clinical striker to come in or for Solanke to get back to his best, as Richi had chances but failed to make much of them.  The rest of the team looked solid, with some good relationships being built up although the World Cup is depriving us of a number of players, with time running out to get them working to De Zerbi’s system.

So, I’m not sure what Roberto would have learned from this fixture, but there’s a weeks work ahead hopefully with most of the squad (and maybe, just maybe some new additions) to prepare for Hoffenheim, when things should be starting to come together.