Despite having the bulk of possession and chances, Getafe really can't complain too much about losing at home. They rotated their side and defended very sloppily in the first period, and although they were rampant in the second, without the injured Uche - and with Enyemea playing well for the visitors - they couldn't find the finish. Defensively, too, they were brave, fast and stubborn; Getafe's early lack of concentration and indeed effort may thus have let them down.

Getafe's rotation was manifold; two introductions - Contra and Belenguer - were in fact putting first choice players back into the side, albeit after injury to help them adapt. Signorino came in on the left; he was not the worst by any means, but it exemplified that this Getafe lineup was clunky and unready, up front, too: Albin was very poor and the team didn't really take shape until after the interval. Hapoel made a couple of changes themselves, the likes of Doani coming in, and while they were to find themselves up against it at the back, they actually held out pretty well. Each goal was opportunistic and showed signs that stand-in coach Ron Zivlin had opted for a counterattacking game with plenty of zip to it.

And that paid off as a very fast chance gave Hapoel a 5th minute lead. It was ironically enough the vastly experienced Belenguer who was culpable; Badir turned in from close range after Belenguer somehow missed Bondarv's right wing cross. Getafe tried to get back into it, but they found themselves outfought for the ball in midfield; when they did hold possession, they were seldom allowed to take it past the centre circle. And such energy and tenacity paid off when Hapoel made it 2-0, Dego scoring from a free kick borne of another fine Fabio counterattack - Ustari should really, really have done better. But that's when Getafe realised they were in trouble and fought back; with his only real contribution, Albin brought out the best in Enyemea not long before half time.

At HT, on came two strikers for a forward (Kepa, who did nothing) and a midfielder, and Getafe began to press forward in earnest. Braulio came close not long after the restart, but Enyemea was able to stop his effort after a trademark bit of midfield play from Geta. Pablo Hernandez was heavily involved, but to Hapoel's credit, they began to read the movement of the midfield very well, particularly down the right - Zaragoza couldn't do this in the Liga! - and held their own; on the occasions that they did not, the 'keeper did so. In the end, he was only beaten from the spot as Pablo Hernandez after a Duani handball.

It was a merited goal after a second half fightback, but even that was not good enough after a blithe and error-strewn first period: Getafe can play, and should have played a lot better, as on their day they're better than this. But full credit to Hapoel, who had a gameplan; even if their goals were somewhat down to poor defending, they still managed to create.