Spanish Surprises: Getafe and Barcelona Succeed in European Play

If you had asked anyone three weeks ago which La Liga teams would be left in Europe after the round of 16 in the CL and the round of 32 in the UEFA, Barcelona and Getafe would not have been the response.

Barça was mired in a streak of bad luck and could not seem to get their immensely talented team to play as a unit.

Getafe, meanwhile, was not even a blip on the map.

One the other hand, Real Madrid was cruising along, Atletico de Madrid was playing inspired football, and Villareal had come out of nowhere to be a real contender for second place behind Real.

How quickly things change.

Real fell on their faces against Roma, Atletico got stuck in the mud versus Bolton, and Villareal's late run was not enough to fight off an aggregate deficit to Zenit.

However, Getafe easily handled AEK Athens, and went on to take a commanding 2-1 lead away from home on Portuguese power Benfica.

Barcelona snapped out of their funk and showed their true attacking colors against an over-matched Celtic squad.

It is immensely disappointing for La Liga to only have two remaining teams—but they way those teams are playing, Spain could once again see a European trophy come to the Iberian Peninsula.

Getafe is an extreme underdog, but cannot be counted out—especially after their mastery in Portugal.

They are also on their way to their second Copa de Rey final (very possibly against Barça), are making their way up the standings in La Liga, and could snatch a spot in Europe next year.

Barcelona will be without Messi for the next month and a half, but with Gio dos Santos and Bojan on the bench, the squad has very adequate replacements.

There may not be a large Spanish presence this season, but it is strong—and Europe needs to watch out.