Jorge Molina, the hero ends, the legend begins

On June 24, 2016, one of the most important agreements in Getafe's recent history was formalized. Jorge Molina, a month and a little more after scoring one of the goals that condemned the azulones to relegation to the Second Division, was announced as a new player for 'Geta'. He changed the green and white of Real Betis to don the blue work jumpsuit, to be part of the squad that would return the whole of the southern capital of Madrid to the gold category of Spanish football.

He arrived at the age of 34, an age at which many already considered it an occasion for retirement. Nothing is further from reality. Sooner rather than later, the Alcoy striker began to dispel all those doubts with a great football performance. In part, 'to Caesar what is Caesar's', following the arrival of Jose Bordalás. With the Alicante coach, the team was resurrected, leaving the relegation positions to Second B, going in crescendo in the classification until reaching the Playoff positions. Outcome? Promotion to First. Their numbers were, to say the least, spectacular: 22 goals, two of them key in the semifinals of the promotion against Huesca, and 6 assists. In addition to the magnificent trident that he assembled with Portillo and Pacheco.

With the return of Getafe to Primera, Molina found a new companion on his trip: Ángel Rodríguez. A forward who had no luck in his previous stages in the top division, and who, next to '19', was going to see his scoring figures increase dramatically. Such was the choral attack that both formed that, added to the good work of the rest of the team, they shot those from Bordalás towards the fight for the European positions. Finally, they stayed at the gates, but Molina closed the course with a record of 7 goals and 5 assists, which, added to those of Ángel (13 goals), are 20 the total, half of the Azulonas targets in that 2017-18 campaign.

The team kept growing. That same summer they signed a new striker: Jaime Mata, who had just scored a whopping 35 goals in Segunda with Real Valladolid. Despite this, Molina remained fixed in his starting position, so they went on to form the famous M&M (both on and off the field), interspersing minutes with an Angel who was already becoming that refreshing figure that would give so many points in the end. Thus, the 'Geta' became the envy of a large part of the First Division teams, having a trident of the highest goalscorer, something that is usually paid dearly and is key to maintaining, above all, the category.

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The gathering of the three together with, again, the brilliant level of the rest of the framework built by Bordalás (Arambarri, Maksimovic, Djené, Soria and company), could not lead to anything other than the best year in the history of Getafe: 5th with 59 points, staying out of the Champions League place on the penultimate day, but obtaining the third European blue ticket after those of the time of Schuter (later Laudrup) and Míchel. And is that Jorge Molina's course, in terms of numbers, was the best. 14 goals (plus another two in the Cup) and 5 assists. He, along with Ángel (8) and Mata (14), brought together, how could it be otherwise, a large part of the goals of 'Geta'.

And, of course, his last campaign defending the Azulona elastic would be traveling through the Old Continent. Award more than deserved for the effort and perseverance for the Alcoy footballer who, At 38, it was practically impossible to predict the fact of being able to play in the Johan Cruyff Arena to eliminate an all-powerful Ajax, who was a semifinalist in the last edition of the Champions League. Or touch the quarterfinals after falling down by a simple 1-0 against the finalist Inter. That bittersweet taste will always remain due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which caused, on the one hand, the braking of a Getafe that was launched and, therefore, plummeted after the post-stop (outside of European positions), But, Above all, because the fans cannot give Jorge Molina the ovation he truly deserves, the one that, one day, he will receive when they cross again.

Because, paradoxically, another day 24, this time in August 2020, his goodbye to the Azulona entity is announced. Getafe and Jorge Molina separate their paths after four seasons to remember, but not their lives. Arms raised horizontally and thumb and index finger in the shape of an 'o', pOr that number '19' will always remember your name.