Real Valladolid 1-1 Valencia CF Match Report

Referees 5, Valencia CF 0. This game was given to Real Valladolid by the referee, overall the 5th game referees have given to other teams. Even in the Calciopoli refereeing scandal it wasn't this obvious there is massive cheating going on.

But lets go to the match for a moment here. Valencia CF started with a 4-3-3 formation with Gago as the defensive midfielder sitting deep, while Banega and Parejo were more advanced feeding balls forward. Nelson Valdez also started after his recent good performances. The match started with Valencia CF dominating possession and being on the attack.

It took a while until Valencia CF had a chance, but in the 14th minute Daniel Parejo hit the post from a free kick from the resulting play after that Valencia CF was given a free kick on the left side. Guardado took the free kick from which Cissokho scored.

Valencia CF would keep probing and trying, Valdez would have one decent chance after a good cross by Banega but was pushed out of the ball, then Guardado in the 37th minute would have a clear path in front of him, he shoots but the ball goes just wide.

Valencia CF dominated the match for most of the match, though it was lacking that forward punch as Feghuoli was quite lackluster and Valdez from an early head injury wasn't 100% and you can see he was struggling.

At half time Soldado was brought on for the obviously injured Valdez. Second half started much like the first with Valencia CF having the initiative and even scoring a goal that was deemed offside, which I'll come back to later and to all of the decisions that went against us this match that ultimately led to Valencias demise.

Minutes later after Valencia CF second goal, Real Valladolid had a counter attack and Cissokho was basically ahead of the chasing Valladolid player, got in front of the ball, was fouled by the Valladolid player and having being fouled he lost his footing stumbling towards the ball at which point he started falling as he was being overtaken and both players sort of stumbled upon each other. At worst this was too little to give a penalty at best it was foul on Cissokho. The paid shill of a referee decided that this was foul by Cissokho and no less a red card foul for havens sake that was the most ridiculous call I've seen for several months now, Valencias had bigger injustices done though overall. But the call was absurd, there was a foul alright, but it was against Cissokho, this also leads us earlier when Valdez was fouled in Valencia's penalty area as someone gave his a big hit in the stomach and it was a red card foul for sure, but the referee acted like he was blind and allowed play. Later on Valencia CF had a clear cut penalty as a Valladolid defender played with his hand, but once again the paid shill didn't call it, later on we had a clear absolutely onside goal rejected and the nail in the coffin was the penalty and red card of Cissokho, making sure Valencia CF wouldn't be able to come back if Valladolid scored.

Overall Real Valladolid barely saw out goal before we were down to two men. They had two chances overall, one shot hit the post in the first half and then another semi chance in the second half. Valencia CF wasn't particularly threatening in front of goal either, but we controlled the possession and tempo of the match, in an away match that is what you do to win and were on the right track to winning even with all the calls against us, but then a gifted penalty and a red card sealed the fate.

Pellegrino also made weird substitutions, he took out Banega and put in Tino, which was a weird substitution as Banega had a great match and Parejo was the invisible one, plus Tino is offensive as well, a defensive move would have been Albelda for Banega, certainly not Tino for Banega.

Then he had even weirder substitution as he took off Gago and put in Jonas in his place, when Valencia CF was already suffering for possession, this move pretty much made sure Valencia lost the midfield battle and Real Valladolid dominated from that moments on, with Valencia CF attacking only from weak counter attacks. In the final moments though we could have won as a series of shots made their way to I believe Rami who had a shot, but was blocked and that was the end of the match.

Technical Details:
R. Valladolid (1): Dani Hernández, Rukavina, Rueda, Óscar, Omar, Bueno, Peña (Bueno, min. 77), Álvaro Rubio (Sastre, min. 67), Víctor Pérez, Balenziaga y Manucho.
Valencia CF (1): Alves,  Cissokho, Rami, Gago (Jonas, min. 77), Feghouli, Ever (Tino Costa, min. 67), Barragán, Valdez (Soldado, min. 46), Guardado, Víctor Ruiz y Parejo.
Goals: 0-1 Min. 14 Cissokho 1-1 Min. 64 Víctor Pérez.

Player Ratings:
Diego 5 - Didn't have anything to do, apart from one stretch early on when the ball hit the post, one punch in the second half and then the penalty. Completely misread the penalty shot though and as a supposed penalty expert should have done better.
Barragan 4.5 - Ineffective performance by Barragan, failed to link up with Feghuoli, was beaten and out of position several times. Had few desperate crosses in attack that gifted the ball.
Rami 7 - Secure performance, won pretty much all air duels and made several crucial interceptions.
Ruiz 6.5 - A little less secure than Rami, but did well and had two good blocks and one header to clear a big threat from counter attack.
Cissokho 6.5 - Secure defensively, lost his man few times, but went forward do a great extent and scored Valencia's goal. He was fouled for the penalty and as he was falling he bumped into the Valladolid player basically and that was seen as a red card foul by the referee.
Gago 6 - Good performance as always, spread the ball well from defense, but did have several smaller mistakes and was out of position for some crucial counter attacks by Valladolid.
Parejo 5 - Not very effective, lost several passes and wasn't important in any play, came more to the forefront in the second half, but largely ineffective performance.
Banega 6.5 - Great performance overall with some fine passes and link up play. Had one wonderful cross for Valdez, though he had trouble sustaining his level for long periods and I think this is due to lack of fitness. Needs to loose few kilos and have more stamina exercises.
Feghuoli 5.5 - Rather anonymous performance this match, after having a great match just few days ago in the Champions League. Don't know if he was tired or doesn't have any understanding with Barragan, but very inefficient performance.
Valdez 5.5 - Started brightly with few good runs into the penalty area, catching few crosses and doing what he could with them, but after he headed with a Valladolid player he was pretty much done, being very ineffective.
Guardado 7 - Great performance by Guarado as he was a constant threat to Real Valladolid, having several good runs, few decent crosses and provided the assist for Cissokho.
Subs:
Soldado 6 - Came on for Valdez on half time, but didn't show for it. Had one shot that was blocked, of course he had a goal neglected as well, he was onside.
Tino 5.5 - When he came in Valencia CF was with 10 players and failed to provide much relief in the middle. Maybe a bit better defensively than Banega and run more, but couldn't control proceedings.
Jonas N/A - Not enough time, though a weird substitution by Pellegrino, maybe he was watching from a TV and didn't have the best sense what was going on?

Valencia CF players on national duty

Valencia CF striker Roberto Soldado has been called up to the Spanish national team for the friendly match on the 14th November against Panama. Roberto Soldado has featured several times for Spain in a row already and his recent good form has helped him get called up again. Its looking like he is becoming a regular player.

Ricardo Costa has been called to the Portuguese national team after missing out a certain period, Joao Pereira on the other hand has been a regular and had of course been called up again.

Adil Rami has also been called up to the French national team and even though he has lost his starting place since the Euro's, he is still called up regularly and may even have a rare start in the next friendly match.

Diego Alves has once again been called up to the Brazilian national team and he has slowly made the starting position his, on the other hand Jonas Goncalves has been dropped from the team due to his poor showings there, as well as poor form at Valencia CF this season.

As already reported Alberto Tino Costa has been called to the Argentinian national team for the second time and he alongside Fernando Gago will feature for Argentina. Tino Costa has certainly deserved this call up with some great performances this season and good consistency.

Valencia CF midfielder Sofiane Feghuoli has been included in Algeria’s squad to play Bosnia in an international friendly November 14 as well.

Valencia CF 4-2 Bate Borisov Match Report

What a match, very exciting, very interesting with lots of goals and plenty of drama as well. One thing certain is that Feghuoli had a wonderful night, the team showed what it can do at its best, but also at its worst and Ever Banega is slowly but surely coming back.

I'm going to leave the rest of the report for tomorrow and go straight to the player ratings right now:

Player Ratings:
Guaita 4 - Terrible match by any standards as he failed to claim a rather easy ball from a free kick that went through his legs. Very nervous and insecure performance, one of his worst performance in Valencia shirt.
Joao Pereira 7.5 - Amazing match by Joao as he pretty much dealt with anything that came on his side and provided a great support for Feghuoli combining well.
Rami 6 - Rather good performance expect for one silly pass that got caught and even though the Bate player used his hand to catch the ball, the ref didn't see it so it could have easily been a goal.
R. Costa 6.5 - Effective and no nonsense performances, defended great and got rid of the ball fast.
Cissokho 6 - Went forward to great extend and had few good crosses, but suffered at the back and was beaten several times. Seems to me like he is fatigued as he has pretty much been playing non stop with Mathieu injured.
Gago 6.5 - Wonderful performance for all of the match, except basically the 5 seconds where he gifted the ball to Bate Borisov and they scored their second goal. Before that an almost perfect performance as he dominated possession and provided a great assist as well for Feghuoli.
Tino Costa 6.5- Industrious performance with lots of running and probing, pressured well and rather good distribution of the ball as well.
Feghuoli 8.5 (MotM) - Just amazing performance by Feghuoli as he was combining well with Joao on the right side and was really causing all sorts of trouble for the Bate defense all match long, scored two great goals as he got himself in great positions to receive the passes.
Jonas 6 - Scored a rather lucky goal, but a very important goal nonetheless, but other than that he was barely visible.
Guardado 6.5 - One of his better performances, tracked back superbly and defended really great, but penetrative going forward as well. Pressured all over the left side, forcing Bate players to make frequent mistakes.
Soldado 6.5 - Not the best of performances though he did convert the penalty with a great shot and came into decent positions, but not enough to increase his goal tally.
Subs:
Banega 6.5 - Came in and took some time to get into the game, but once he settled he did great providing a good outlet to pass to, helped control the midfield and provided the assist for the 4th goal.
Valdez 5.5 - Didn't have enough time to be more effective, though he did have one decent chance he got out most of.
Albelda N/A - Not enough time.

Valencia CF vs Bate Borisov Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Bate Borisov Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 07.11.2012; 20:45 CET

4th matchday, Champions League

Coaches: Mauricio Pellegrino and Antoli Kapski

Valencia CF is coming to this match after a good run of form in the Champions League and of course after it trashed Bate Borisov 3-0 at their stadium, all three goals scored by Roberto Soldado in his first hat-trick this season.Valencia CF also just beat Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league ending their unbeaten run since basically late spring. This means Valencia CF is in good form and winning tonight against Bate Borisov will be a huge step in qualifying for the next round in the Champions League, a big objective for Valencia CF as it helps enormously financially and it isn't hurting in getting better sponsorship deals.

Apart from Jeremy Mathieu and Sergio Canales everyone else is fit and healthy and even though Rami had a small scare in the match against Atletico Madrid it seems it was just a suppressed vein which the physiotherapist seemed to fix right there at the scene, but Rami was still replaced as a percussion. Even Pablo Piatti has returned from injury and he is actually in the squad tonight to face Bate Borisov.

Last match Valencia CF against Bate Borisov was rather strange, Bate defended well, but the penalty opened up the game and as Bate Borisov tried to attack, Valencia CF sued the space and were able to score 3 times. Tonight Bate Borisov are not likely to make the same mistakes against Valencia CF and this is very likely going to be a tough and close match where both sides can win. Valencia CF must be 100% ready and focused in order to win and my worries are that some of the players may be tired as they played a really demanding match against Atletico Madrid, up until that time the most in form team in Europe.

Bate Borisov on the other hand have had a good run in the Champions League and in their domestic league. Their good run in the Champions League ended when they met Valencia CF basically, up until then they've beaten Bayern Munich and Lille. Bate Borisov also lost their last match in the Belorussian Premier League to Naftan, I suspect many of their top players were rested to keep them fresh for tonight's match.

Match Result Prediction:

Valencia CF 2-1 Bate Borisov

I feel like its going to be a tight and close match, I think Valencia CF are going to have more possession and control, but as until now we would lack penetration and unless some mistake by the Bate defense Valencia is going to struggle to score. I have a feeling that we are going to score the opening goal on a counter attack though, Bate Borisov would use the tiredness of our players and press, giving us chances on the counter that probably Soldado will score. The match would open up then and I suspect we are going to we just barely by 2 to 1.

Wilfried Bony to transfer to Valencia CF?

Wilfried Bony to Valencia CF?

With more and more certainty that Jonas Goncalves is going to move to the Premier League in England, either to Tottenham or Liverpool, Valencia CF is looking for possible replacements for Jonas. One player that has caught the eye of Braulio Vasqiuez is Wilfried Bony and Valencia CF is interested in bringing him in.

Wilfried Bony currently plays as a Striker for Eredivisie club Vitesse Arnhem and has also featured for Cote D'Ivorie. He is 23 years old, so a young player and possible long term solution for Valencia CF. He has scored 27 goals for Vitesse.

Valencia CF is likely looking to make some good money on the transfer market this winter in order to be able to fund few reinforcements and with Jonas price at 10 million and more it would be enough to fund at least two new players, certainly Wilfried Bony as he is valued at about 7 million euros, though his realistic value is probably somewhere around 5 million euros, big plus for Valencia CF is that his contract runs out in 2014 and he is not likely to extend it.

Valencia CF 2-0 Atletico Madrid Match Report

Valencia CF ended Atletico Madrid's long unbeaten streak and won 2-0 over them in what was a exciting match. Overall there weren't many chances on either side, Atletico Madrid threatened once in the earlier stages and then Valencia CF took the lead with an amazing volley by Roberto Soldado in the 20th minute.

Atletico Madrid would try to respond, but Valencia CF paired well and were fighting Atletico Madrid in the midfield, not allowing them to push deep into Valencia's third. That said what little Altetico did was dealt with by the defense.

The first half ended 1-0 for Valencia CF with both sides playing equal football and neither side having the upper hand in terms of performance. The biggest problem for Valencia was that it really did lack in attack as Jonas and both the wings were ineffective.

Second half started with Atletico Madrid attacking and for the most part controlling the proceedings, they had two decent chances with one was a shot from the left and then a header by Falcao. Valencia CF would have two decent chances as well through Guardado, both times he shot, but was shot was inaccurate and went went wide and above the goal.

Rami would develop some back problems and had to be replaced in the middle of the second half and later on Ricardo Costa and Valencia second coach would get red cards.

Ultimately the end was quite exciting as Valencia CF was holding on to dear life, but Nelson Valdez put an end to any doubt over who the victor was going to be when he made it 2-0 for Valencia CF in the 94th minute.

Technical Details:

Valencia CF  (2): Alves; Joao, Rami (Víctor Ruiz, min.65), R. Costa, Cissokho; Gago, Tino Costa; Feghouli, Jonas (Éver, min.79’), Guardado; Soldado (Valdez, min.87).
Atlético de Madrid (0): Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Luis; Tiago (M.Suárez, min.70’), Gabi (Raúl García, min.67’); Turan, Emre (C.Rodríguez, min.56’), Adrián; Falcao.
Goals: 1-0 Min 20, Soldado. 2-0 Min 94, Valdez.

Player Ratings:
Diego Alves 6.5 - Had two great saves, otherwise not very secure in the air, but wasn't tested too much.
Joao Pereira 7 - One of his better matches in a Valencia CF shirt. Make sure no one beat him all night long, making some crucial tackles and blocks.
Rami 7 - Confident and secure, defended well alongside Costa, getting the better out of Falcao on most occasions. Was injured towards the end and replaced by Ruiz.
R. Costa 6 - Good defensive display, made few important blocks, but needless red card as he could have been more careful. The referee was no doubt harsh, but Costa should have known better.
Cissokho 6.5 - Secure performance, did his defensive duties well and blocked out Arda for most of the match. Did go forward to a certain extent as well, but was more subdued than other matches.
Gago 7 - Great command of the midfield, spread out the ball well and pressured Atletico's midfield consistently.
Tino Costa 6.5 - Run a lot and was always useful in defense, midfield and in more advanced positions, lacks ball controlling skills that Gago and Banega have, but makes up in other ways.
Feghuoli 7 - Not very effective going forward, though he did hold the ball effectively, keeping possession for Valencia CF and covered well defensively. Lovely pass late game for Valdez to seal the match.
Jonas 5.5 - Not very effective and barely saw the ball. What little he had of it was largely basic passes and should be worried about his starting spot prospects based on his performances this season.
Guardado 6 - Covered great defensively and did have few forwards runs, including two good chances, but the first one his shot was very poor and in the second one he decided to shoot again, instead of playing Soldado or Banega. So poor decision making and poor shooting skills, needs to do more.
Soldado 7.5 - Man of the match performance, even though he didn't have much chances at all. One chance was all it took and it was what basically won Valencia CF the match.
Subs:
Ruiz 6.5 - Replaced Rami and did just as well, making one important foul to stop Atletico's counter in its tracks.
Banega N/A - Did not have the influence I was hoping he'd have, but Valencia CF was already on the back foot and then reduced to 10 men. Hopefully with these appearances he'd get to his best form.
Valdez 6.5 - Came in and almost instantly scored to seal the match and give Valencia CF the victory in the dying moments of the match. Great anticipation, awareness and calmness to fool Courtosis and slot the ball into the net.

Valencia CF vs Atletico Madrid Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Atletico Madrid Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 03.11.2012; 22:00 CET

10th matchday, La Liga

Coaches: Mauricio Pellegrino and Diego Simeone

Valencia CF

Valencia CF are coming to this match after a disappointing loss to Real Betis in the league at a time when the team just started winning in the league against Atletic Bilbao and then in the Champions League against Bate Borisov 3-0 at that, but then just like so many matches away this season, Valencia CF lost to Real Betis and it was a similar result to the one in Levante previously away from home, both times we conceded first and were unable to break their defenses.

With such poor results at away matches and not so convincing performances at home either Valencia CF finds itself sitting at 11th place on the table with only 11 points out of 9 matches. Now the season is still early on and there is still plenty of time to run things around, but the team must improve in more ways than one and really show it on the field with dominating performances and good results. 

The time is ticking for Valencia CF coach Mauricio Pellegrino and he is under severe pressure right now, and this match against Atletico Madrid may make or break his career here at Valencia CF and may also make or break the team as well. Valencia CF is going against the in form Atletico Madrid who haven't lost a single match since last season and have shown in all competitions that they are not a team to be underestimated as they trashed Chelsea in the Super Cup and have taken their Europe League group with ease.

For Valencia CF and Mauricio Pellegrino this is a must win match, for Pellegrino this may be his last match if he looses and for Valencia CF this may be the end of any Champions League ambitions for next season. If Valencia is to finish in the top 4 the team needs to make a statement right now and what better way than by beating Atletico Madrid tonight. They may be the most in form team right now and are still challenging even Barcelona, but they are not invincible and Valencia CF have always had good results playing against Atletico Madrid at home and this has always been a really competitive match, so Valencia really has a good chance of beating Atletico Madrid tonight.

Pellegrino rested few players in the Copa Del Rey match and so they are going to be fully fit and prepared for this match. Mathieu's injury returned a week back and he will be missing for at least 2 more weeks, Piatti is fully healed, but will need at least one more week before he is back to full training, Feghuoli is also going to be available for this match and pretty much all the rest of the players are available, so there is quite the squad to choose from.

Recently Pellegrino has been trying out a makeshift 4-3-3 formation, with Tino playing as the advanced midfielder and it worked against Bate Borisov, though not so much against Real Betis obviously, the formation does transform to 4-2-3-1 when attacking though with Tino in that advanced position behind the striker and he has shown promise there, but we might see a more conventional formation against Atletico Madrid, though he is likely to pack the midfield in order to control possession and starve Falcao out of service that way, at least that is what I would be doing if I was the coach.

Valencia CF squad: to be announced...

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Guaita; Pereira, Rami, R. Costa, Cissokho; Ever, Gago, Feghuoli, Tino; Guardado; Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, short passing, mostly crosses.

Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid on the other hand have been going from strength to strength and are yet to loose one single match since around summer time last season and I sure do hope tonight is the time they loose. They've had big enough of a streak and good results and so its overdue to stop. I mean universal chances here are against them and Valencia CF could really stop their high. That said they are the most in form team right now in Spain and probably in Europe as well and with Falcao as their leader they are crushing all sides they meet, so sufficive to say they are going to be one difficult opponent tonight and are on paper and realistically favorites to win, though as I've said Valencia CF does historically have great results against Atletico Madrid at home.

Atletico Madrid are right now sharing the 1st position on the table with Barcelona, just loosing out on goal difference, but with same amount of points, 25 each. Is there a point saying who their main goalscorer is? Its Falcao obviously with 10 goals scored so far, though this could be a double edged sword for them as well, as apart from him no one is even close to that amount of goals and their second striker is Raul Garcia with only 3 goals, so get Falcao out of the equation and Atletico Madrid are vulnerable again. No one even has any big assists, so that tells us that chances are mostly created individually by Falcao himself or he gets in many poachers goals by rebounds and dead ball situations.

If I was the coach I'd put a player to directly mark Falcao as its obvious to me he is the biggest threat and the way his goals come from, having someone mark him constantly would put a damp in Atletico's threat. Now other players can be dangerous as well, but with dominance over possession you can really starve Atletico Madrid out of any chances. 

Now Atletico Madrid are also defensively solid and they have great team play so obviously they are tough to crack as well, but as we saw from last season they do have problems when things get chaotic and fast, so while their organization is their strength, having a team that will play to their weaknesses can trump them. What Valencia CF will need to do is play fast football in the final third and just bombard their penalty area with crosses, which is not too tough to do with how bad our players crosses sometimes are, it will lead to chaos and that is our chance. Our strikers will need to be really effective though and we can not waste any chances. So I hope Soldado is Goldado tonight and that others step up their game as well.

Atletico Madrid squad: to be announced...

Technical Details Atletico Madrid (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Courtosis; Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Felipe; Gabi, Mario Suares; Raul Garcia, Belozoglu, Turan; Falcao.
Tactics: Low defensive line, own third pressure, mixed passing, wing attacks mostly.

Result Prediction:
Valencia CF 1-2 Atletico Madrid
I hope Valencia CF can win, but I just don't see it. I think its going to be a competitive match, I think we will most likely even control more of the possession, but I see us conceding some silly goal from a defensive mistake and then I expect Falcao to also score some poachers goal. We are likely going to score as well, possibly Feghuoli, but I think Atletico Madrid will just edge Valencia CF.