Schalke 04 vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Felix Magath predicted an all-action conclusion to FC Schalke 04's round of 16 tie against Valencia CF, with Unai Emery having "a clear plan" as to how to turn the tie in the visitors' favour.

Felix Magath is more than pleased with the form of his transitional FC Schalke 04 side and is adamant that they will not look to cling on for a goalless draw at home against Unai Emery's Valencia CF following a 1-1 tie in Spain in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 opener.

Felix Magath, Schalke coach
I have been brought here to start a refit of the club. We are right in the middle of this process, and I am very pleased so far. We are playing well in the Champions League, which is something I had promised, and we have reached the German Cup final, winning at [FC] Bayern [München] in the semi-finals. Considering this is a transitional year, we have achieved quite a lot.
Playing for a 0-0 draw against Valencia is too risky. Experience shows that pressure tends to mount towards the end of games like this and you never know if you will be able to cope. Any late goal could be a winner, so there is no way that we will drop deep and wait. Valencia have to score and they have their weaknesses at the back, so they will most likely play attacking football too. It will probably be a fascinating game to watch.

Unai Emery, Valencia coach
We know Schalke have a small edge on us due to their home advantage. They are not doing so well in the Bundesliga, but they are strong in the cup and the Champions League, and they will punish every mistake we make. However, I am certain that we will put in a good performance.
We can play better as a team than we did in the first leg, but the first leg is history; only this game counts now. We have formulated a clear plan and now have to put it into action. Schalke have their own style and are a great side, which they showed with the 1-1 draw in the first leg. They are a very strong side that can keep up the tempo for 90 minutes, but we know where our strengths lie.

Team news
• Schalke
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (knee) will not feature, with Magath explaining: "He is making progess, but cannot play yet." However, the coach was in no mood to reveal Schalke's attacking plans. Lukas Schmitz is serving a one-match ban while José Manuel Jurado is within a booking of a suspension.
• Valencia
David Albelda is available after serving a one-match ban in the first leg, while Aritz Aduriz is available after shaking off an ankle injury, though he will miss his side's next match if he is booked. The striker said: "We have to attack in a controlled fashion and not go mad and leave ourselves exposed to their counterattacks."

Latest results
Saturday: VfB Stuttgart 0-1 Schalke
(Kuzmanović 15pen)
Benedikt Höwedes was sent off for the handball that led to the penalty as Schalke lost to a Stuttgart side that began the day second from bottom in the Bundesliga. It was the defender's third dismissal of the season. He had never been sent off before this term.
Saturday: RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia
(Ramis 31pen, Pablo Hernández 33 56)
Pablo Hernández scored twice in a Liga game for the first time in his career to take his league tally to five for the season – equalling his best total, set last term. It was only Emery's team's sixth victory in their last 14 away games in all competitions although they have won their last three away fixtures.

Did you know?
The sides' two previous games in Gelsenkirchen ended in a win apiece. Valencia triumphed 1-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage with a second-half David Villa goal while ten years previously, in the UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg, Schalke's 2-0 home win sent them through.

Source: Uefa.com

Schalke - Valencia

Goals scored	11		16
Attempts on target	38		52
Attempts off target	31		48
Corners	39		50
Fouls committed	110		91
Yellow cards	16		9
Red cards	2		0

Valencia Technical:
Formation: 4-4-1-1
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Navarro, R.Costa, Mathieu; Pablo, Topal, Ever, Mata; Tino, Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, high opposing field pressure, mixed passing, high crosses, wings positional changes.

Result prediction:
Schalke 04 1-1 Valencia CF; Extra time: 1-2
I think Valencia will come out attacking from the start in order to score an early goal, but that won't happen. It probably going to happen in the second half, but Schalke will equalize and with the same result as in the previous leg the match will go into extra time. Then in the last 2 or 3 minutes Valencia will score the winning goal.

RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia CF - Match Report

Just 3 days after the unlucky and controversial defeat to Barcelona, Valencia CF managed to rise to the occasion and win against a tough Mallorca side, who were up till now renowned for not loosing to Valencia in the last two years and in fact winning 3 of the 4 matches.

But before I start I must commend my self once again for predicting the correct result of Mallorca 1-2 Valencia. I seem to be getting more and more reliable in my prediction and I hope my prediction of Valencia winning against Schalke when I make the preview come true.

Anyways Valencia started the match in full control and very confident and assured, like something has changed and in reality it really has. I guess after 3 months of not loosing a match you gain that kind of confidence and spirit to fight hard and so the players were playing really well.

Mallorca has one of two chances and Valencia having few chances as well. Mata had a good try in the 22th minute and later on Jonas had a chance to open up the scoring early, but his shot went wide. Valencia were punished in the 31st minute when the referee awarded Mallorca a penalty which didn't really exist, but anyways the referee has got the final word and Ramis did took the opportunity and scored.

Just 1 or 2 minutes later Aduriz set up the ball to Pablo who's shot went straight to the net, it was 1-1 and this would prove to be the result both teams would go at half time with.

In the second half after a lot of battle in the middle of the field and few decent chances on both sides Valencia scored one more goal, once again Pablo was the scorer and Jonas made the assist.

Valencia took the lead, but soon after that Mallorca pushed forward and tried to at least get a draw and they had some dangerous shots towards Valencia's goal, though Guaita once again prove his worth and showed he is a top class goalkeeper and hopefully he stays in full form for many, many years for Valencia.

In the end it was a good match for Valencia as they leave with the 3 points and go happy and still confident to prepare for the champions league match against Schalke 04.

Technical details:
RCD Mallorca (1): Aouate; Cendros, Nunes, Ramis, Kevin; Nsue, Martí (Tejera, min 81), De Guzmán (Joao Víctor, min 85), Pereira (Aki, min 64); Castro y Webo.

Valencia CF (2): Guaita; Bruno, R. Costa, David Navarro, Jordi Alba; Topal, Ever (Albelda, min 87), Pablo, Mata (Vicente, min 80); Jonas (Joaquín, min 70) y Aduriz.

Goals: 29th min. 1-0 (p.) Ramis; 32th min. 1-1 Pablo Hernandez;. 56th min. 1-2 Pablo Hernandez.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 8 - Once again man of the match performance with some amazing reflex saves.
Bruno 6 - Reliable showing and did well in defense and helped out a little in attack as well.
Navarro 5.5 - Few smaller mistakes, but those can be punished easily by strong opposition, luckally Mallorca is not strong opposition.
R. Costa 5.5 - Did not cause a penalty by my judgement, but I'm quite biased. Otherwise same as Navarro as he did make some smaller mistakes.
Alba 6 - Not nearly as good performance as against Barelona, but did well in defense and went forward often enough.
Pablo 8 - Should probably share man of the match with Guaita as he found himself at the right place at the right time and scored two goals.
Banega 6 - Good passing, strong on the ball, but needs to work on his defending somwhat and stamina, seems to run out of steam by the 60th minute and kind of slow when moving.
Topal 7 - Great cover for the defense, made 2 visible tackles to prolong the Mallorca attack and helped out that way, and provided some clean and simple passing.
Mata 6.5 - Improvement over the last match and started the action that lead to the goal. His dribbling seems sloppy often times and need to work on that.
Jonas 7 - Most dangerous man and even though did not score any goals, he provided the assist to Pablo for the second goal and his movement and ball control were always great.
Aduriz 5.5 - Just came back from injury and he ran as if he was not injured. Covered a lot of ground and generally useful.
Subs:
Joaquin 6 - Came in and provided a bit more depth on the right wing, but Valencia went defensive when he came on and could not really do much.
Vicente N/A - Came on late, had few nice touches, won the ball few times as well.
Albelda N/A - Short cameo just for him to regain some match form.

RCD Mallorca vs Valenca CF - Match preview

Just 3 days after the meeting with FC Barcelona, Valencia CF will travel to Mallorca who have been a very dangerous opponent in the past 2 seasons with 3 wins for Mallorca from 4 meetings and one draw.

Valencia CF are in a good form though and even though the loss to Barcelona may be a bit demoralizing, the players should be up to the challenge and capable of beating Mallorca. The main worry for Valencia CF coach Unai Emery should be tiredness, after the players have been playing matches every 3 days.

RCD Mallorca is currently at 10th position with 34 points from 26 games with their last match being a win against Espanyol away.

Piere Webo and Gonzalo Castro are Mallorca's most dangerous players and the main threat is going to come from them. Webo has scored 6 goals and also has 6 assists to his name, while Castro has scored 5 goals and 3 assists. This also makes them the best goalscorers in the team and best assistants in the team as well.

Mallorca are not particularity effective in front of goal, but they are not ineffective also, they are somewhere in the middle as their table position also shows. They are also in the middle when it comes to goals conceded and its neither too much or too little. So they are a pretty average team and you know what they bring.

RCD Mallorca squad:
Goalkeepers: Germán Lux, Dudu Aouate
Defense: Iván Ramis, Rubén González, José Nunes, Pau Cendrós, Enrique Corrales, Kevin García
Midfield: João Victor, Michaël Pereira, Chori Castro, Akihiro Ienaga, de Guzmán, Martí Crespí, Sergio Tejera
Attack: Emilio Nsue, Webó, Sergi Enrich

Valencia CF on the other hand just lost their unbeaten streak of 11 matches and no less in the Mestalla, but to Barcelona - one of the best teams in the world, albeit with the huge help of its sidekick the referee Iturralde Gonzales by disallowing a perfectly onside goal, which you can see from an airplane and not to mention from 10 meters away.

Valencia CF are still third on the table, but the advantage has been reduced to only 1 point above 4th placed Villarreal and Valencia must ensure a win tomorrow if they are to stay 3rd place, even though Villarreal travel to Madrid to take on Atletico.

Joaquin was injured in the Barcelona match, but has since recovered and will be available for selection, Maduro was injured on the last training session before the match against Barcelona so he is unavailable for selection, Miguel Brito and Chori Dominguez are still suspended by the coach and finally Aritz Aduriz has made a full recovery faster than expected and will be in the team to face Mallorca.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César, Guaita.
Defense: Bruno, Dealbert, David Navarro, Stankevicius, Ricardo Costa, Jordi Alba, Mathieu.
Midfield: Topal, Albelda, Banega, Pablo, Joaquín, Vicente, Mata.
Attack: Jonas, Isco, Aduriz, Soldado.

Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 4-4-2
Line-up: Guaita; Bruno, Stankevicious, R. Costa, Mathieu; Pablo, Topal, Tino, Mata; Jonas, Soldado
Tactics: High defensive line, high opposing field pressure, deep zone defensive midfield, mostly crosses, position changes from the wingers, deep line in attack.
Its very important for Valencia CF to win vs Mallorca and I think the 4-4-2 system is perfect for it. Valencia also needs to have huge control in the midfield as Mallorca has proven to be a tough opponent that scores goals against VCF, so not allowing them too much time on the ball and stopping any counter attacks before they become dangerous is imperious to not conceding a goal.

Result prediction:
RCD Mallorca 1-2 Valencia CF
This is going to be a very tough match for Valencia CF and even though I think Valencia will ultimately win, its going to be a struggle for 90 minutes.

Valencia CF news

Here are several Valencia news all in one post.

First off we have the positive news that David Albelda and Aritz Aduriz have been training with the squad and are nearing their full recovery. In fact they may just be available next week.

Goalkeeper Vicente Guaita is coming closer and closer to signing a contract extension with Valencia. He was under a youth contract with a minimum salary, but after excelling as the number one goalkeeper this season after both Cezar and Moya were injured he is set to be here in Valencia for many years. The new contract is set to have a salary of up to 1 million euros per season.

In a bit surprising news, but very positive news though, our new signing Jonas has been called up to the Brazilian national team for the friendly match again Scotland on the 27th.

In a bit of negative news Joaquin seems to have been injured in the match against Barcelona and along with Maduro won't be available for the Mallorca match.

Iturralde González defeated Valencia CF again

Was Jordi Alba onside or offside for the goal against Barcelona?
- Jordi alba was onside and the goal was legal, but the referee damaged Valencia once more.

Jordi Alba's offside is in fact onside and the goal should have stood!

Is Barcelona protected by the referees?
- Yes it is. I am not saying this based on this one offside, but rather the fact that every time a Barcelona player is touched, every time there is a fight for the ball, a struggle, a fall, etc... the referee/s always award a foul, which in tonight's match at least, the referee failed to award several obvious fouls for Valencia and has directly damaged Valencia.

Valencia CF 0-1 FCB Barcelona - Match Report (result)

I can't describe how Barcelona managed to win in tonight's match, it was an impossible mission in which they succeeded. Seems like they caught the Valencia players tired, but Barcelona players kept on running and running like they are on some kind of performance drugs.

The goal that Barca scored was ultimately a lucky thing, as in Messi somehow forwarded right towards the ball and even after Guaita's fast reflection the ball still went in.

Before the match it was like a friendly with all the players hugging and greeting each other and there seemed to be an great atmosphere, but when the match started in was a fierce competition.

Valencia were pretty much in control and were very fluent in their movement and passing creating few dangerous runs towards Barca goal.

Perhaps what was giving Valencia power early was the fact that Unai Emery started with 5 midfielders and had Mathieu(LB) play as a winger, essentially fielding 6 midfielders in order to gain control of the midfield.
The link here was Ever Banega as his ball holding and controlling skills are superb and also his dead ball control is outstanding allowing him to block off any pressuring Barcelona players and make a pass.

This controlling and attacking momentum of Valencia will come to an end though in the 12th minute and from then on Barcelona will gradually improve their control, passing and attack.

There were generally quite a bit of chances on both sides overall in the whole 45 minutes in the first half and Valencia even had a legitimate goal ruled offside. Alba got a through ball, sprinted forward, dribbled past Pinto and scored and the linesman raised the flag and it was rulled offside, although from the replays you can see Alba was perfectly in line with the Barca defense and this should have been a goal. (please implement camera technology in the games  UEFA and Fifa).

Anyways Dealbert made a stupid mistake like against Malaga I believe when he just fell and allowed Messi to sprint forward alone on goal, but miraculously missed by attempting to lob Guaita.

Barcelona had few chances other than the Messi one and Villa actually set two of them up, one to Messi which he also missed and one to Alves.

Anyways the first half ended with both teams deserving a goal, thoug if we look at it realistically I would say Valencia should have been 1 up and the goal should not have been ruled offside.

In the second half Soldado was brought on for Joaquin and even though Barca was having most of the possession Valencia had the first dangerous chance which involved Soldado, but he could only shoot wide.


Pablo also had a great chance which he must have either scored or assisted Soldado and Valencia should have scored a goal then also.

Barcelona was having chances also and Villa, Messi, Adriano all had their chances, but they all missed, though Villa seemed like he was intentionally choosing the worst option as if he didn't want to score a goal, which is quite understandable actually.

Barcelona goal was the luckiest thing I've ever seen, even though Adriano managed to outrun Stankevicious the pass was heading nowhere particualrry, but somehow Messi as usual found himself sprinting towards the ball and shot, Guaita made a good reflex save, but still couldn't quite keep the ball out of the net.

After the goal Emery brought Jonas who was moving very well, Valencia pressed really hard and tried to make something happen in the last 10 minutes, much like they won most of their matches in the last 3 months, but they just couldn't do it.



It was a fun match and full of excitement, but unfortunately Valencia lost, even though they deserved a draw and fought really hard and often even managed to beat Barcelona at their own game in posession football.

Every Valencia fan can be pleased after the match though as the players showed real character, fighting spirit and quality(except two). Hopefully with a stronger defense next season Valencia can mount even a challenge to Barcelona for the league title.

As for this season Villarreal won their match and once again come closer to Valencias 3rd position with just one point less, but Villarreal are yet to play against Barcelona and the other tough matches are quite equal in that they need to play against Atletico which Valencia beat.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (0): Guaita; Stankevicius, R. Costa, Dealbert, Alba; T. Costa (Isco, min. 83), Ever, Joaquín (Soldado, min. 45), Pablo, Mathieu (Jonas, min. 80); Mata.

FC Barcelona (1): Pinto; Diego Alvés, Piqué, Abidal, Adriano (Maxwell, min. 81); Mascherano (Pedro, min. 64), Xavi. Busquets; Iniesta (Keita, min. 87), Messi y Villa.

Goals: 79 min, 0-1 Messi.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 8 - Had 3 amazing blocks, two of which were sucesful, but the Messi shot for the goal somehow went in. Guaita has proven this season he is a top class goalkeeper.
Stankevicious 6.5 - Had an amazing match until that fatal minute when he was outrun by Adriano and the goal was scored, but I can't take it from him that he played really well otherwise.
R. Costa 7 - Great match for Costa, managed to tackle, mark and pass greatly and most of the time won his duels.
Dealbert 3 - The weak link in the defense. Made a huge mistake by giving the ball away to Messi and maybe could have done better to stop Messi shot that lead to the goal, had few good tackles and won headers though, but he was defenately the weak link in defense.
Alba 7.5 - Superb in defense and great in attack. Had a great understanding with Mathieu and offered a lot in this match.
Joaquin 5.5 - The worst of the player on the field, could not support the passing game and didn't return back enough and was rightfully substituted.
Banega 7 - Very confident display from the midfielder, great and accurate passing, covered his zone good and was the main player for Valencia to have any posession.
Tino Costa 6 - Run tirelessly all match, gave it his 110% percent, but could not muster up the pass or shot to do something. Needs to work on his guard with the ball.
Mathieu 6.5 - Good in defense and often very useful, less effective in attack and was overshadowed by Alba in this match, but still had a great match.
Pablo 6.5 - The most creative player in the field, made few great passes, missed from a great chance, but overall a really fine display from Pablo.
Mata 5 - One would expect our "best" and most expensive player to be a leader in this kind of matches and be the best performer but he failed flat in his task. Not dangerous as an attacker and later ineffective as winger also, lost way too many balls and falls to the ground very fast and not even getting a foul in the process, need to build up his strength.
Subs:
Soldado 5 - Apart from one shot at goal, did not really do anything. Failed to run channels, dribble and didn't even come forward to receive the ball.
Jonas 6 - Brought immediate danger after his arrival, he was moving well and his dribbling skills seem good, linked up well with several players, but did not have enough time to make a difference in the result.
Isco N/A - Not enough time, though he did lost the ball half the time he touched it. Needs refinement if he is to play at the first team in the top tier league.

Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona - Match Preview (vcf - fcb)

La liga matchday 26, Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona

Valencia CF biggest match in the Spanish league is almost here. Valencia CF has not won the Spanish league since the season 2003-04, while FC Barcelona has been dominating domestically and internationally the past few seasons with huge achievements such as winning  6 trophies in one season and braking all records in all competitions.

Valencia CF gets 40 million TV rights money, Barcelona gets 140 million TV rights money. Valencia champions league qualification is considered a success, while for Barca winning only La Liga is somewhat of a dissapointment.
The contrast between these two clubs is huge, especially in recent years, but when these two sides meet on the grass what matters is only the performance on the pitch and nothing else.

Valencia CF is currently on an unbeaten streak from December 5th and last time it lost was against R. Madrid in the Spanish League. Clearly there is bonus motivation in this match in order to keep that unbeaten streak and at least get a draw, but why not even surprise us all and beat Barcelona.

The first match between these two teams played at the Camp Nou ended in a narrow 2-1 victory for Barcelona. You can check the match report for that game here.

POS		TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		GD	Pts
1		Barcelona	25	22	2	1	76	13		11	1	1	36	8		11	1	0	40	5		63	68
2		Real Madrid	25	19	4	2	55	19		12	0	0	37	6		7	4	2	18	13		36	61
3		Valencia	25	15	6	4	40	26		8	4	1	23	13		7	2	3	17	13		14	51

Head to Head

Date	Home		Away	Competition
Oct 16, 2010	FC Barcelona	2 : 1	Valencia CF	Primera Division
Mar 14, 2010	FC Barcelona	3 : 0	Valencia CF	Primera Division
Oct 17, 2009	Valencia CF	0 : 0	FC Barcelona	Primera Division
Apr 25, 2009	Valencia CF	2 : 2	FC Barcelona	Primera Division
Dec 06, 2008	FC Barcelona	4 : 0	Valencia CF	Primera Division
May 04, 2008	FC Barcelona	6 : 0	Valencia CF	Primera Division
Mar 20, 2008	Valencia CF	3 : 2	FC Barcelona	Copa del Rey
Feb 27, 2008	FC Barcelona	1 : 1	Valencia CF	Copa del Rey

Valencia CF is going into this match with the intention of continuing its unbeaten run and apart from a loss it will be good enough to get even a draw and not to mention a surprise win, that would be huge.

Chori and Miguel are still suspended by the coach and its doubtful if they will get called to the squad, Bruno and Topal will miss the match due to 5 yellow cards each and David Albelda is still injured.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: César, Guaita.
Defense: Navarro, Delabert, Ricardo Costa, Stankevicius, Jordi Alba, Mathieu, Maduro, Montoro.
Midfield: Tino Costa, Ever, Joaquín, Pablo, Vicente, Mata.
Attack: Isco, Jonas, Soldado.
*Maduro was injured during the last training before the match and Montoro took his place.

FC Barcelona on the other hand are coming in this match as the hot favorites to win and get the three points, but the Mestalla has been a tough venue for them in recent years, Barcelona are in a bit of match fatigue right now as several of their players have played for over 90% of the matches for the team, players such as Iniesta, Messi, Busquets and Villa.

David Villa may miss the match as he has some personal business to attend to, Victor Valdez is also missing and Pinto will once again be on the goal, Xavi has been training and regaining fitness, so he may be fit to play after all even though he was injured and thought to be missing for 2 weeks.

FC Barcelona squad:
Goalkeepers: Pinto, Miño
Defense: Dani Alves, Piqué, Gabi Milito, Maxwell, Adriano, Abida.
Midfield: Xavi, Iniesta, Mascherano,  Keita, Busquets, Afella.
Attack: David Villa, Bojan, Messi, Pedro.

Interviews and conferences:

Valencia CF player, Joaquin Sanchez

• Valencia winger Joaquin has suggested that his side cannot afford to lose to Barcelona when they host the Spanish champions at the Mestalla in a Spanish Primera Division encounter on Wednesday.
• It is three points we can't afford to let slip from our grasp," said the 29-year-old, according to AFP.
• "We will suffer a lot because they are a great team but we are going to try to impose our style of football.
• "If we can make them feel uncomfortable we have a great chance of winning."

Valencia CF coach, Unai Emery

• "If Barcelona keep possesion as usual, then we are cannon fodder," Emery said ahead of tomorrow's battle at the Mestalla.
• "It will be important to see our personality and the state of the pitch. We know Barcelona will create chances, but we have to avoid goals.
• "We must also try to get close to their goal. We have to maintain the ball and we know we can do this.
• "They are the best team in the world with the best players in the world and have one of the best coaches in the world."

Barcelona player, David Villa

• "I don’t want to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths, so I won’t celebrate if I do score a goal."
• "It will be a weird sensation, for example, going to the dressing rooms”and having to go to the visitors and not the home one."

Valencia CF Technical:
Formation: 5-2-3
Line up: Guaita; ?, Navarro, R. Costa, Dealbert, Mathieu; Maduro, Banega; Joaquin, Soldado, Pablo.
Tactics: High attacking frequency by the full backs, low defensive line and own half opposing team pressure, deep zone defensive midfielders, wing attacks, mixed passing with mixed crossing.
In order to win or even draw against Barcelona, Valencia must beat them at their own game. This means Valencia can't sit back and defend and with VCF defenders conceding a goal is certain, so Valencia must have big possession and pressure Barcelona constantly when they have the ball.

Result prediction:
Valencia CF 1-1 FC Barcelona