Valencia CF 1-0 Stoke City - player ratings

Guaita 6 - Had two wonderful saves to deny Stoke and was commanding in the air.
Bruno 6.5 - Bruno has surprised me with his performances against Stoke. Seems like he doesn't trouble with strong and fast players running at him and his weakness is technically good players.
Rami 6 - Good game by Rami, was good in the air and confident when dealing with the opposition.
Dealbert 6 - Keeps surprising me, yet another good performance, with only one early mistake and was rock solid after.
Alba 5.5 - His size really was important here as he got out jumped every time and got beaten a few times. Wasn't particularly effective going forward either.
Topal 6.5 - Good game by the Turk, made some good defensive tackles and good interceptions in the penalty area and spread the ball with effective simple and short passes.
Parejo 6 - Finally a good match by Parejo, albeit not impressive. He retained possession well and his passes were mostly accurate and and positive.
Pablo 6.5 (MotM) - Good game by Pablo who was really in his element tonight. Provided the assist to the goal, after a fine dribble to leave his defender behind.
Jonas 6 - Scored the goal and was involved in a lot of the attacks, fell back and helped out in midfield as well.
Piatti 5 - Very active on the left, but he really seems to find his stride on the right. So far whenever he has played left has been decent, but not very efficient, but when he's played right on the wing, has been very effective.
Aduriz 5 - Got the spot instead of Soldado, but wasn't convincing. His movement was good and was a big presence with his height in Stoke's penalty area, but failed to get in dangerous shooting positions.
Subs:
Feghuoli 5 - Didn't show very much in his 20 minutes. Lost couple balls and his crosses were fail.
Soldado 4.5 - Same as Feghuoli and didn't show much. Had one great chance after he found himself alone in front of the goalkeeper, but shot straight at Thomas Sorensen.

FC Barcelona 5-1 Valencia CF - Player Ratings

Diego 5.5 - At fault for the second goal. Made several great saves after, but when you are responsible for the opposition leading after such a goal, it doesn't matter. He also received 4 more.
Miguel 6 - Great start to the match, was very firm in defense and combining well with Feghuoli, but then got injured.
Rami 0 - Absolute disaster. He was Dealbert at his worst minus 100 times. Horrendous performance tonight.
Ruiz 4 - Did better than Rami, but that doesn't say much. To his defense he was let down by Mathieu time and time again and was forced most of the time to be a left back as well.
Mathieu 3.5 - Mathieu's worse performance. I don't know what his problem was, but he just didn't run, didn't block, just mindlessly stood in defense.
Albelda 5.5 - Did what he could. It was another reliable and industrial performance, but wasn't at his best as he received a yellow card very early in the match and under pressure for red.
Tino 4 - Completely overrun in the midfield and this his his straight 3rd or 4th game where he has been sub-par, in this one Barcelona danced around him.
Feghuoli 6.5 - Had a good game, amidst a poor team performance, had several runs and some good passes, but couldn't do it alone.
Jonas 5.5 - Two amazing passes and very calm on the ball, but failed to help out the midfield or do much more than few passes.
Piatti 6 - Great run to score the first goal, tried really hard thought and helped in defense, but just didn't happen.
Soldado 5 - Completely isolated at front, only received 1 useful ball in the whole game. No service today at all.
Subs:
Ricardo Costa 4 - Bad performance, was beaten over and over again and with the incompetent Rami made a mess out of the game at the back.
Alba 5.5 - Improved upon Mathieu in defense and had one good run after he came on, but the team was not up to it and so he couldn't really do much.
Topal N/A - Not enough time

FC Barcelona vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

FC Barcelona vs Valencia CF

Stadium: Camp Nou
18th, February, 2012; 21:30CET
24th matchday, La Liga
Expected Attendance: 90.000

  Coaches: Josep Guardiola and Unai Emery

Its that time again in the new season where we face the title defenders and not so favorites for winning it again right now, as Real Madrid is leading the table by a big margin. The matches between Valencia CF and FC Barcelona 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 that is going to be the case this time around as well, with millions of people all over the world watching this match.

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 untouchable Barcelona. This time no different and FC Barcelona are the huge favorites, especially after winning over Valencia CF just a week ago in the Copa Del Rey. And while the games have mostly been fairly equal result wise with 2 draws and one not so big loss, Barcelona has always looked the one more likely to win and has been the better side overall.

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 disappointment.
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

Sep 21, 2011 Valencia CF 2 : 2 FC Barcelona Primera Division
Mar 02, 2011 Valencia CF 0 : 1 FC Barcelona Primera Division
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 

FC Barcelona has been in a somewhat of a semi-crisis with a loss to Osasuna just last weekend when they really needed a win to catch up to Real Madrid and two games before that only managed a draw with Villarreal who were still in a bad form and just changed coaches just two weeks prior.
Even though they've been in a rather 'poor' form in La Liga, they've been in great form in other competitions like the Copa Del Rey where they beat Valencia CF and they just beat Bayer Leverkusen away from home 3-1 in the Champions League.

Last year the most trouble that Barcelona had was against Valencia CF in both the matches and Valencia CF was the best and only team to take the game to Barcelona and have as much as 49% possession. Valencia CF also scored first in the second match and had several more opportunities to increase their lead, but just didn't have enough luck. In the second half though Barcelona pressed and managed to get more of the possession and were the more dangerous team and ultimately scored two goals and won.
This season its been a similar case with the first match being rather equal in the first half with Valencia CF even more dangerous towards goal, in which Soldado missed a sitter of a chance to give us basically the win. Then in the second half Barcelona came back and almost won, but Valencia CF barely held to the 2-2 draw. Possession was 44%-56% with Barcelona just slightly in the lead there.

Iniesta has returned from injury and Xavi for the most part has been rested in easier games and will be fully fresh for this match. Of course the most dangerous man for FC Barcelona is Lionel Messi, who is especially dangerous against Valencia and has been responsible for Barcelona having better results against Valencia singlehandedly. Alexis Sancehz has also been accustomed to life and play at Barcelona and has excelled in recent time, scoring important goals for Barcelona.

Barcelona squad: to be announced...

Valencia CF is coming to this match after a big victory against Sporting Gijon in La Liga and a good result over Stoke City at an away match in the Europa League. Valencia CF is also currently in 3rd place, only 8 points behind 2nd placed Barcelona.

The biggest surprise comes from the obvious absence of Ever Banega for this match. Superdeporte reports that he has some sort of knee problem, but they are getting their info from official channels on this one and we know this can be a lie, although at this point I don't think it is and don't see it as a problem between Banega and Emery.

With Albelda getting a contract extension for one more season and Topal having a good games after quite a while, we have things to be optimistic about going into this game. Its likely to be a very tough game, especially at Camp Nou which has always been a tough venue for Valencia CF.

Valencia CF squad:

• Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Guaita.
• Defenders: Miguel, Bruno, Ruiz, Dealbert, Ricardo Costa, Rami, Alba, Mathieu.
• Midfielders: Topal, Albelda, Feghouli, T. Costa, D. Parejo, Pablo, Piatti, Bernat.
• Attackers: Jonas, Aduriz, Soldado.

Technical Details FC Barcelona (probable setups):
Formation: 4-3-3
Line-up: Valdes; Puyol, Mascherano, Pique, Abidal; Xavi, Busquets, Cesc; Thiago, Messi, Alexis.
Tactics: High defensive line, interchangeable right wing, bore VCF to death with endless circle passes that pose no danger and when all fell asleep score a goal.

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

Result Prediction:
Barcelona 2-0 Valencia CF
Barcelona already beat Valencia 2-1 at home in the Copa Del Rey match and this time its going to be the same, with the only difference that Valencia is not going to score.

David Albelda contract extended, Mathieu and Alba next

David Albelda extended his contract just before the match with Stoke City and will stay at Valencia CF for one more year. Albelda has been very consistent this year and overtook Topal as a starter in the team and thus earned himself  a new contract.

He is also Valencia's captain and oldest member of the club and most standing, having played at Valencia for 15 years.

Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente said that the team needs Albelda as he brings so much to the team and more recently he's said that they are going to extend the contract with Jeremy Mathieu very soon and how they have an agreement with Mathieu. He also said Jordi Alba is also likely to extend his contract with Valencia.

Valencia CF wallpapers batch 4

Hi there. Valencia CF wallpapers batch 4 is here. Its been a while, but I have few more wallpapers to release now.

If you want to contribute with a wallpaper send it to me at slickr12345(at)yahoo(dot)com

Stoke City 0-1 Valencia CF - Match Report

Stoke City 0-1 Valencia CF

possession:

Attempts on target: 2-2

Attempts off target: 3-7

fouls: 13-11

Match started with Stoke City pressuring hard and forcing Valencia CF to loose the ball fast in the middle and then quickly try to cross the ball to Peter Crouch and hoping he would score with a header.

Stoke City was more dangerous in the first 15 minutes and controlled the tempo of the match and in those 15 minutes had few good crosses and throw-ins, but once the starting energy wore off Valencia CF began to control more of the ball and keep possession.

21st minute Jonas with a chance after good one-two play with Piatti, but his shot goes straight to Stoke City's goalkeeper.
Few minutes later Jonas and Piatti with a good combination once again, with Piatti shot being blocked, but winning a corner kick.

After some midfield battle and back and forward Valencia CF would start threatning Stoke City goal a lot more seriously and would have few chances and tries on goal and then in the 36th minute Topal releases a bomb, a missile towards Stoke's goal and the goalkeeper has no chance to stop it and Topal scores a goal, giving Valencia CF the lead.

38th minute Tino Costa has a shot towards goal, perhaps influenced by Topal, but his shot goes wide. Just a minute later Stoke would have their chance through Crouch who hits a volley, but it goes wide.

In the last seconds of the first half Feghuoli with some dribbles in Stoke's penalty area, but he does too much and ultimately looses the ball and wastes a good opportunity.

Second half started with Stoke City the better team with more of the ball control and more of the initiative, while Valencia CF were the ones trying to catch Stoke on the counter attack.

For the first 20 minutes it was pretty much all Stoke City with a lot of tries through crosses and long balls, but Valencia's defense would stood firm.

70th minute starts a counter attack, passes to Piatti and this one to Feghuoli who's shot hist the post.
Just few minutes later chance for Stoke City after a corner kick, but shot goes above the goal.

93rd minute free kick for Valencia just outside the penalty area on the right side with Tino Costa taking it, but his shot is too powerful going wide and above goal.

Final time and Valencia CF wins 1-0 over Stoke City and going into the second leg with a clear advantage.

Line-ups:
Stoke City (0): Begovic, Huth, Shawcross, Wilkinson, Wilson(69, Shotton), Pennant, Delap, Etherington, Palacios(53, Whitehead), Walters, Crouch(69, Jerome)
Valencia CF (1): Guaita; Bruno(81, Miguel), Rami, Dealbert, Mathieu; Topal, Tino; Feghuoli, Jonas, Piatti(88, Bernat); Aduriz(79, Soldado).

Player Ratings:
Guaita 6.5 - Very confident dealing with Stoke's dangerous crosses, throw-ins and corners and did his job well.
Bruno 5.5 - Good in defense and helped out well enough in attack, but got tired towards the end and lustfully replaced with Miguel.
Rami 6.5 - Good positioning and very strong in the air, but once and a while has this crazy runs and dribbles and that needs to stop.
Dealbert 6.5 - Great performance from Dealbert who was in charge of subduing Crouch and did a great job at it.
Mathieu 6 - Good defensively and made some nice and clean tackles. Did well going forward as well.
Topal 7 - Good game by Topal who had some key defensive interventions and scored the only goal with a magnificent shot.
Tino 5.5 - Started well and very involved in the second part of the first half, but was gone in the second half and did very little.
Feghuoli 6 - Had some nice chances and did decently to find himself in such positions, but really made the wrong decisions in what to do when he got in dangerous positions.
Jonas 6.5 - Great match by Jonas who combined really well tonight with Piatti to cause Stoke all sorts of problems.
Piatti 7 (MotM) - Man of the match performance and was a thorn for Stoke's side, causing them all sorts of problems and combining really well with Jonas for come good actions.
Aduriz 5 - Not too involved and failed to get into dangerous positions.
Subs:
Soldado N/A - Not enough time

Miguel N/A - Not enough time

Bernat N/A - Not enough time

Stoke City vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Stoke City vs Valencia CF

Stadium: Britannia Stadium
16th, February, 2012; 21:05CET
R32, 1st leg, Europa League
Expected Attendance: 27.700

Coaches: Tony Pulis and Unai Emery

Valencia CF founds itself in the Europa League instead of the Champions League after failing to qualify by drawing the first match with Genk and then later also loosing to Bayern Leverkusen 2-1. In the last match with Chelsea there were hopes we'd be able to basically draw and move on, especially since Chelsea was in bad form at the time, but once again we showed our second class and lost 3-0.

Now we face English side Stoke City in what is going to be an interesting match and in which match Valencia CF needs to show its strength and character and be able to win at least minimally.

 

Stoke City on the other hand fought their way to the round 32 in the Europa League from the start, starting with the third qualifying round beating Hajduk Split 1-0 in the first leg and then beating them 1-0 once again in the second leg for an aggregate win of 2-0.

In the play-offs Stoke City beat Thun 5-1 on aggregate showing its class against the weaker sides. 

In the group stage they finished second in their group behind Besiktas with 11 points to Beshiktas 12 leaving Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel-Aviv behind.

Now Stoke's biggest challenge yet in the round of 32 is Valencia CF and as such they are going to be extremely motivated and playing 120% percent, enthusiastic to show their crowd they can compete with Spain's third best club.

Right now Stoke City are thirteen in the Premier League table with 30 points, safe from relegation, but way off from any top 6 finish. Their best striker is Peter Crouch with 6 goals and he is likely to cause some trouble for our defense with his 2 meters height. They also have Jermaine Pennant as someone more known in their squad and he is with 3 assists.

Stoke City haven't won in 5 matched domestically, loosing four and drawing 1 of their last five matches, though two of those opponents have been Manchester United and Liverpool, but its still a bit of a bummer, although they haven't really been winning much overall as they are 13th place on the table.
They've scored a total of 24 goals in the Premier League and conceded 38 goals and are with pretty much same record at home and away.

Stoke City squad: to be announced...

Valencia CF on the other hand is coming to the Europa League after failing to qualify for the round of 16 in the Champions League by finishing 3rd place behind Bayer Levernusen and FC Chelsea. I guess David Albelda is happy right now as he called this competition as good and that we have better chances of winning this competition, but I beg to differ with teams like Macnehster City, Manchester United, Udinese, Atletico Madrid and even Schalke 04 who beat us last season in the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Valencia CF also lost in the Copa Del Rey recently to Barcelona and although there is no shame in loosing to Barcelona, its still a bad feeling to loose and certainly in the poor way we played for the second leg didn't help things.

In the domestic league Valencia CF is doing much better with pretty safe 3rd place right now and 8 points away from 3rd and 4th places Levante and Espanyol, though it is only this last week that we broke a winless streak of 5 matches.

Against Stoke City our biggest problem would be Peter Crouch with his 2.1 meters height and the fact that English players have more strength and play a more physical game. While Valencia CF is no Barcelona and we have powerful players like Rami, Topal and Aduriz, most are still weaker like Alba, Mathieu, Pablo, Piatti, etc...

Valencia CF squad:

• Goalkeepers: Alves, Guaita, Adrián.
• Defenders: Miguel, Bruno, Rami, Dealbert, Víctor Ruiz, Mathieu.
• Midfielders: Albelda, Topal, Tino Costa, Éver, Bernat, Pablo Hernández, Feghouli, Piatti.
• Forwards: Jonas, Aduriz, Soldado. 

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups)
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego; Miguel, Rami, Dealbert, Alba; Banega, Albelda; Feghuoli, Jonas, Piatti; Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, mid field pressure, positional changes from the wingers, 3 way attacks, mostly short passing.

Result Prediction:
Stoke City 1-1 Valencia CF
Stoke City are not some big club and technically are a lot weaker, but what they lack in technique they add up with strength and at home they are going to be a problematic opponent. I can already see Peter Crouch scoring a goal against Alba or Ruiz or Miguel so one goal for them is a certain, with Valencia CF using Soldado's speed to score as well. Ultimatelly I see the match finishing level with one goal a piece.