Valencia CF vs RCD Espanyol Match Preview

Valencia CF vs RCD Espanyol

Stadium: Mestalla

03.12.11; 22:00 CET

17th matchday, La Liga

Expected Attendance: 40.000

Coaches: Unai emery and Mauricio Pochettino

Valencia CF has been in great form the last few weeks with wins in the Champions League and La Liga. We are third position on the table just 4 points behind Barcelona, a feat that would have seemed impossible one or two years ago. Surprisingly though Levante, the other Valencia based club is hot on our heels with just one less point and even though we defeated them in a good fashion 2-0, they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves and are proving to be stiff competition so far.

Valencia CF just needs to continue winning, grinding out wins if it has to and keep close to the big two this season as that is the goal, the overall objective set by the president Llorente and Emery. We welcome RCD Espanyol at the Mestalla today and unlike last season where they were in the top 4 positions with some great defensive displays, Espanyol are at the more modest 9th position on the table right now.

As far as injuries and recovery, Guaita is recovered, but will still not feature just in case and Ever Banega and Ricardo Costa are progressing well, but still got some way to go before they are fit to even be in contention for selection. Victor Ruiz is also in question and probably won't play, but its not exactly sure. In other news Miguel has had a bit of a slip up in his behavior and has missed training by some 30 minutes and as punishment Emery will not include him for this match, which means most likely Barragan is going to start again as he seems to be better than Bruno.

Soldado and Jonas are probably going to be rested and Aduriz and Piatti should take their places. I'd also expect Parejo to feature, but that may be taking it a bit far for Emery and he is probably going to play it safe with Tino Costa.

RCD Espanyol on the other hand are 9th on the table with only 17 points a staggering number of 6 losses so far. They haven't been liking in the back, but have one of the poorest scoring records in the league so far with only 10 goals scored, Valencia in comparison has scored 21 goals. They are also worse when visiting teams and haven't been able to hold out for draws.

Espanyol's last three matches have been decent with two draws and one loss, but they will be hoping for some wins at least in the future if at against Valencia. They are likely to be very motivated for this match and as always I predict that Valencia CF will need to suffer in order to get a result, but we should win over Espanyol and have ease of mind and be comfortable going into the Champions league match against Chelsea!

Result Prediction:
Valencia CF 2-0 RCD Espanyol

Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Valencia CF - Player Ratings

Diego 6 - Did not have too much to do, but did well on the two occasions he had to react. No chance for the goal.
Barragan 6 - Did well defensively not too troubled and was decent going forward as well.
Rami 6 - Did have few header clearances and wasn't particularly troubled, decent display.
Dealbert 5.5 - Mixed bag performance, he did have some nice interceptions and blocks, but had a few lapses as well.
Alba 6.5 - Started really well making some crucial tackles and interceptions in defense and doing well going forward as well, but diminished in effectiveness later on, being passed two times with ease and was involved in the mix up along with Dealbert in Vallecano's goal.
Albelda 6 - Had two good interventions to stop the Rayo attacks progressing, earning a yellow for on of those interventions though.
Tino 6 - Scored a goal and closed down all over the field rather nicely, but not a great performance.
Feghuoli 6 - Always a hard worker and covers a lot of ground going back and helping out in defense, but wasn't too good on the attacking side and apart from the assist did not do much.
Jonas 6.5 - Scored a good goal from a distance and was generally dangerous. Most of his passes failed though, but still a pretty good display.
Mathieu 6 - Had few trademark crosses and provided the assist for Jonas, but again other than that not too impressive.
Soldado 6 - Combined well with Feghuoli on the right leading up to the goal and some good runs deep, but lacked the service today.
Subs:
Aduriz 5.5 - Did have few runs towards goal, but couldn't quite make it. He did come and help out in defense though quite a bit.
Pablo 5 - Apart from being involved in one action just after his arrival went missing and I did not see him again.
Piatti 5 - More active than Pablo and had had few runs, but they all ultimately failed.

Rayo Vallecano vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Rayo Vallecano will welcome Valencia CF at its stadium after eight years of pause and winning promotion to the top division this season. Last time these two clubs played was back in 2003 where Vallecano was destroyed by 4-0.
Since then all but one are still playing for Valencia and yes you guessed rights its David Albelda. All the rest of the golden time guys like Baraja, Angulo, Vicente, etc are now gone. Last one to go was Vicente who currently plays in England's second division.

Rayo Vallecano got promoted this season to the Primera League after playing in lower divisions for 8 years. Rayo Vallecano have so far been decent and certainly the bad start of several bigger clubs like Villarreal, Getafe have allowed them to occupy the quite high 10th position on the table, but that is not to take away anything from Rayo Vallecano as they are playing some good football and are very compact as a unit, as a team. In fact they have a pretty good balance of goals scored and goals conceded and there is no doubt they will be a tough opponent.


Valencia CF on the other hand are coming to this match as the favorites and high from the 7-0 victory over Genk at the Champions League. But that victory should not blind or life from reality our players as reality can hit them in the face real hard and the higher you fall the nastier it is. Valencia CF needs to go into this match fully concentrated and prepared, mentally ready and be ready for a hard fight with lots of suffering in order to win.

This is not going to be a cake walk and we certainly won't be seeing a 7-0 trashing here and hopefully the players will know this and be ready to methodically and patiently chip away at the Vallecano defense until we can score a goal or two and win.

Valencia CF will be without Victor Ruiz though for the first time since he's arrived here and Dealbert is likely to take his place alongside Rami. Ricardo Costa, Ever Banega, Hedwiges Maduro and Sergio Canales are still injured and in the case of the later three they have long term injuries. In fact the earliest to return may be Ever Banega in two weeks or so.

Also most likely to get back on goal in Guaita who has been suffering from a hand injury for some time and wasn't on the goal for Real Madrid. Since Diego Alves did make some big mistakes in that match I think Emery is going to easily put Guaita back between the sticks now that he is supposedly healed.

Valencia CF squad:

Goalkeepers: Guaita, Alves.
Defenders: Miguel, Barragán, Bruno, Rami, Dealbert, Mathieu y Jordi Alba.
Midfielders: Topal, Albelda, Tino Costa, Parejo, Pablo Hernández, Féghouli y Piatti.
Forwards: Jonas, Aduriz y Soldado.

Valencia CF 7-0 KRC Genk - player ratings

Diego 6 - Did not have much at all to do and apart from three saves that was it. Did well to make those though.
Miguel 7 - Did well in defense and provided the assist for Aduriz goal.
Rami 6.5 - Did well enough and had few blocks, but not challenged much.
Ruiz 5.5 - Had two nice blocks and rarely tested, replaced at half time.
Mathieu 6 - Did well enough in defense and provided some good crosses in attack.
Topal 6 - Did good in midfield and then later in defense making some crucial interceptions.
Tino 7 - Very energetic performance, covered a lot of ground and provided good passes, scoring a goal as well.
Feghuoli 6.5 - Covered a lot of ground and made several interceptions in defense, provided decent attacking threat.
Jonas 8.5 (MotM) - Man of the match performance from Jonas, who although was outscored tonight he provided the biggest attacking threat scoring one goal, providing (two)three assists and being involved in most of Valencia attacks.
Pablo 7 - Somewhat reserved in the first half, but improved in the second and became a genuine threat with clever movement and passing, scoring a great goal in the process.
Soldado 8 - Almost man of the match performance, but this time he was outdone by Jonas. Scored a hat trick and was always a threat for Genk.
Subs:
Parejo 5 - Wasn't too visible and didn't do anything of note. Failed to impress once again and his chances are becoming less and less with performances like this.
Piatti 6 - Instant threat and slotted well with the rest of the attackers providing some good runs on the flank, having a shot at goal as well.
Aduriz 6.5 - Came in and in his short time scored a great goal, showing good anticipation, strength and finishing skills. Had two more opportunities, but couldn't quite make it.

Valencia 3-3 Real Madrid - Pre match report

This video clearly shows Valencia CF has been damaged and it should have been 3-3. Higuain should also be given a ban for 3/4 matches for unsportsmanship.

Valencia CF vs Real Madrid - Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Real Madrid

Stadium: Mestalla

19.11.11; 22:00 CET

11th matchday, La Liga

Expected Attendance: 52.000

Coaches: Unai emery and Jose Mourinho

Its that time again in the new season where we face the title chasers and favorites for winning it, the kings club Real Madrid. The matches between Valencia CF and Real Madrid have always been very entertaining and have attracted huge crowds and a lot of viewership not only in Spain, but all over the world.

No doubt this is going to be an interesting clash once again and an entertaining game and in a lot of ways its a measurement for Spanish clubs in recent years to assess their strengths against the giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, but this time will be different though as Valencia CF brought the game to Barcelona when we faced them and managed a strong performance, earning a draw with a chance to have won it. Real Madrid so far look the most solid in La Liga so this will be a sterner test than even Barcelona and a positive showing and result which would include a draw also would be great for the confidence of the players and will enable us to stay up there to Real And Barca.

Unlike Barcelona though all Real Madrid players are in their prime time and have shown better performance this season that the previous ones and with new signings like Coentrao to strengthen the squad even more Real Madrid look very strong. Xabi Alonso is as good as ever, Ronaldo has improved in his overall game and even provides assists now and Benzema has truly become much better.  So unlike Barcelona with aging and diminishing players like Xavi, Abidal, Puyol, Villa, etc... we are going to face a Real Madrid side better than ever.

With all that said Valencia CF is a different team as well and with the defensive duo of Rami and Ruiz as well as the great performances from Mathieu we have a defense better than what we've had in the past 5-6 years and with some re-surging players like Tino Costa, Albelda we have a chance. 

Valencia CF gets 40 million TV rights money, Real Madrid gets 120 million TV rights money. Valencia champions league qualification is considered a success, while for Real Madrid second place in the biggest failure.
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.

Head to Head
24/04/2011	SPL	Valencia vs Real Madrid		3 - 6
05/12/2010	SPL	Real Madrid vs Valencia		2 - 0
19/04/2010	SPL	Real Madrid vs Valencia		2 - 0
13/12/2009	SPL	Valencia vs Real Madrid		2 - 3
10/05/2009	SPL	Valencia vs Real Madrid		3 - 0
21/12/2008	SPL	Real Madrid vs Valencia		1 - 0
18/08/2008	Spain Super	Valencia vs Real Madrid		3 - 2
01/11/2007	SPL	Valencia vs Real Madrid		1 - 5
27/11/2006	SPL	Valencia vs Real Madrid		0 - 1
24/10/2005	SPL	Real Madrid vs Valencia		1 - 2
23/10/2004	SPL	Real Madrid vs Valencia		1 - 0

Valencia CF is coming to this match after two good wins in the Spanish league and champions league. In the last match against Levante Tino Costa had an amazing match providing an assist and scoring the second goal. With Banega injured for at least 3 weeks, its up to Tino Costa to organize the midfield and link-up play, Emery has told him to step up his game and he did it against Levante, but this is Real Madrid and he will need to step up his game once again over his stepping up previously.

Valencia is currently third on the table and close within Real and Barca and getting a positive result in this match will do wonders. At this point there are no new injuries and Emery can choose from pretty much of of the squad.

Valencia CF squad: to be announced...

Real Madrid is coming to this match after several convincing victories including a 7-1 mauling of Osasuna, so they will be full on confidence. Cristiano Ronaldo had a little injury scare, but he is reported to be recovered and will feature for Real Madrid. Di Maria is an unknown and Kaka is I believe still inured so we are at least not going to see him. To remind everyone Kaka was the main player to destroy Valencia last season in the second match between these two teams.

Real Madrid squad: to be announced...

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Guaita; Miguel, Rami, Ruiz, Mathieu; Albelda, Tino; Feghuoli; Jonas, Alba; Soldado.
Tactics: Low defensive line, own half pressure, double left side cover, high frequency wing attacks, counter attacks, mixed passing.

Technical Details Real Madrid (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Casillas; Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao; Alonso, Khedira; Callejon, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema.
Tactics: low defensive line, all round pressure, interchangeable left side, long shots.

Result Prediction:
Valencia CF 1-3 Real Madrid
Lets be real here we are going to loose and loose badly. We are going to be defending most of the time and concede two goals, we are going to get lucky on the counter attack and score one back, but Real will take control and completely dominate and score a third goal to put the game to rest.

Report: Players on international duty

Turkey; Mehmet Topal
Mehmet Topal did not start for Turkey and unlike the previous match he did not come in as substitute either.

France; Adil Rami and Jeremy Mathieu
Adil Rami started and played the full 90 minutes for France and while I didn't watch the match if we were to trust goal.com they gave him a 5 and said he wasn't too good.
Jeremy Mathieu did not start in France's second match as Erik Abidal took his place, although Mathieu played great when given the opportunity and had decent chances to be called for Euro 2012.

Brazil; Diego Alves and Jonas Goncalves
Diego Alves started and played the full 90 minutes of the match and while he wasn't troubled much he did well on those rare occasions and might as well have secured himself a permanent place in the team.
Jonas Goncalves started and played for most of the match scoring two goals in the process to give Brazil 2-0 win over Egypt.

Spain; Jordi Alba
Jordi Alba did not play in Spain's match against Costa Rica in which Spain drew 2-2 with pretty bad defensive display. Monreal from Malaga was given the spot instead and it seems with his poor performance like Jordi has guaranteed his spot in the Spanish team for the Euro 2012.