Real Madrid vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Real Madrid vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu

Date: 15.01.2013; 21:00 CET

Semi Final, 1st leg, Copa Del Rey

Coaches: Jose Mourinho and Ernesto Valverde

Real Madrid

Real Madrid is coming to this match after a disappointing game in the week against CA Osasuna where they only managed to draw and were lucky to escape with a point as well. I watched the whole match is order to asses them and from start to finish Real Madrid were second par to Osasuna, managing only on rare counter attacks to threaten and even that was mostly done by one person, in this case Callejon. 

Real Madrid have been having troubles with injuries and to add to their problems is Sergio Ramos who got himself a red card the week before and went on to insult the referee, insuring he got a 5 match ban. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't play as well, serving a one match suspension due to accumulating 5 yellow cards. Already weakened, Jose Mourinho decided to rest Ozil and Benzema in order to have them fresh for the match against Valencia CF and fielded Higuain who just recently came back from injury and Modric in the attacking midfield spot.

Real Madrid instantly started the match on the back foot as CA Osasuna surprisingly started exerting influence on the match and I guess caught the Real Madrid players off guard who seemed rattled that a relegation zone team is challenging them. What from the initial shock, what from fatigue, the Madrid midfield failed to control the ball and were constantly on the back foot, unable to mount any strings of passes. Even though Real Madrid were on the defensive most of the time, they did have the first chance and then a few more dangerous chances to score, including one goal that was deemed offside, accurately so.

Osasuna had their own chances and numerous times they were with more numbers in attack, but failed to either provide that final pass or have an accurate shot at goal. Later in the second half Real Madrid would be left with 10 players as Kaka got himself a red card, although the decision was way too harsh. That pretty much sealed the deal as Osasuna attack was toothless and Real Madrid playing with only 10 men, meant they would defend at all time and that's what it happened.

Apart from their last match Real Madrid have been very inconsistent this season and not even surprisingly. I was able to asses their situation judging by their preseason and I wrote an article explaining why so. So I'm on record writing this would happen and as is always the case I was right 100% yet again. Not to boast, but when someone is right all the time, you'd want to take it seriously. Of course when I tried to present this to Real Madrid fans of several of their favorite fan-sites, I was ridiculed and laughed at, similarly as the season before than, when I predicted or rather knew Barcelona would fail and wrote that Real Madrid would take the title and I was of course right. 

So to me, to find Real Madrid in the situation they are in was expected, though if you read in the article I also predicted that their season would also start off in the second half of the season, although that it would probably be too late. Hopefully Valencia CF manages to beat them 3 times, or at least 2 times, before Real Madrid turn their season around. Who knows, maybe even a big victory over Real Madrid may end their season, though I highly doubt it.

For the match against Valencia CF, Real Madrid are coming without Pepe and Ramos, though they have Ronaldo returning so that is a worry, but their midfield is tired, Alonso has pretty much played almost all of the matches and Khedira is in a similar situation, though he has been rested a few times. Mostly though Khedira has not played when injured.

So I expect them to settle up and come fighting, especially since they are at home terrain in the first leg of this fixture, while Valencia CF has rested some of its players. The biggest problem for Valencia CF is the loss of David Albelda though who's been rock solid at the back, shielding the defense superbly and Gago is still recovering from his injury so he is not going to be fit enough to face Real Madrid.

Real Madrid squad: to be announced...

Technical Details Real Madrid (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Albiol, Coentrao; Xabi, Khedira; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema.
Tactics: High defensive line, own half pressure, mostly wide wing attacks, long balls from the middle.

Valencia CF

Valencia CF on the other hand is coming to this match after a secure 2-0 win over Sevilla FC in the league and has the team in great form, as Valencia CF has won 7 out of the last 8 matches. Valencia CF has slowly been improving with Valverde at the helm and the team is in great form and great spirits. Heck even Parejo claimed he was very happy at a press conference recently.

The win against Sevilla FC was very important and a step forward to achieving a top 4 place this season in order to qualify for the Champions League next season. Right now Valencia CF in in 7th position with 30 points, but only 4 points from 4th position, which is occupied by Real Betis right now. Not to play down Betis, they have been playing great and beat Levante 2-0 on the weekend, but their squad lacks depth and I'm expecting them to loose steam at a certain point.

Knowing Valencia's form and play currently and Real Madrid form and play, I'd say Valencia CF has real chances of beating Real Madrid over the 2 legs in the Copa Del Rey, but also in the league, as Valencia CF will meet them just few days later at the Mestalla and then again at home for the 2nd leg for the cup.

Valencia CF biggest problems ahead of the match against Real Madrid is the injury of David Albelda and then the accumulation of yellow cards for Joao Pereira in La Liga. Apart from that Fernando Gago still isn't fully fit to start and we lack a proper defensive midfielder. This gives me worries as Tino Costa can play as defensive midfielder, but is not very secure and Valencia CF is playing against a top side here, not some smaller team.

Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Guaita.
Defenders: Joao, Barragán, Víctor Ruiz, Ricardo Costa, Rami, Cissokho.
Midfielders: Tino Costa, Gago, Éver, Dani Parejo, Guardado, Viera, Piatti, Bernat.
Forwards: Jonas, Valdez, Soldado.


Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego; Pereira, Rami, R. Costa, Guardado; Albelda Tino, Banega; Piatti, Jonas, Parejo, Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, mixed passing, mixed attacks.
Sorry for the inaccurate info I had for the line-ups, copy/paste from the previous match.

Result Prediction
Real Madrid 2-1 Valencia CF
Real Madrid are playing at their home terrain and its the first match of the fixture, so I expect them to win, although knowing Valverde Valencia CF is going to come out attacking as much as possible and due to Real Madrid's weaker defense at the moment I can see Valencia CF scoring one goal.

Adil Rami in support of Manuel Llorente

With the increasing hostility of Spanish fans towards current Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente, Adil Rami wrote about support of the president: "We are all like family and I and the players are with the president to death". Some strong words obviously.

I've also already written an editorial about Manuel Llorente, I call it 'the story of Llorente', though the title may change, but I'll go over it once again to tackle some grammar mistakes and then publish it when there is not much going on. Its not a defense of Llorente, its more of a history of what happened, infused with my comments. So expect, probably after the matches against Real, though if I can squeeze it in between I'll do that.

In other news related to Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente there are reports that if he looses the presidency of Valencia CF, he could become the next president of the LFP. The Provinces writes: "The truth is that the current president of Valencia is very well regarded in the LFP. For this and said pressure from the fans, it is not unreasonable to think that Llorente, would at least consider the offer that comes from the capital of Spain to take the position as president of the LFP."

Llorente has a contract till 2014, but some are hoping to oust him at a board meeting and have a vote of no confidence, though its highly unlikely that could happen.

I need your help

I need your help in order to build a database of all Valencia CF players, but can only do so with your help. I need you take this survey http://obsurvey.com/S2.aspx?id=F6E75CED-3EAE-4E85-87E6-83DFC1830E8B. You need about 15 minutes of free time in order to complete the survey. The survey is about all of Valencia CF players strengths and weaknesses and all questions are mandatory.

The questions are: What are "full name" strengths and weaknesses? And then you need to write your answer.  So please take the survey and make sure you have 15 to 20 minutes of free time so that your answers and insightful and of good quality. 

Thank you very much in advance.

Valencia CF 2-0 Sevilla FC Match Report

Valencia CF wins 2-0 over its fierce rival Sevilla FC. This was a must win match tonight for Valencia CF and fortunately the team did not disappoint. This puts the team only 1 point off of 4th place and since Malaga is playing against FC Barcelona tomorrow, I'm assuming they are going to loose. Of course Betis and Vallecano are also ahead with one point, but I don't think they are capable of challenging for 4th spot over all of the season, similarly like how Espanyol fizzled out I believe 2 years ago when they were in contention for top 4 until the second half of the season.

So a very important win, loosing this match would have been terrible and would have distanced Valencia CF too much from the top 4 positions, which would have affected the players moral and then you have big problems. As it is the team got a boost to the morale and will face Real Madrid next in the Copa Del Rey, who drew today to Osasuna.

The match itself started slowly with Valencia CF exerting its influence on the proceedings with Albelda and Banega able to control the midfield and easily spread the ball around, with only low level pressure coming from Sevilla players. First opportunity for Valencia CF would come through Jonas who released Soldado, but the ball was too fast.

Jonas would get the ball again close to the penalty area of Sevilla, but instead of shooting or passing wide he decided to complicate stuff and try to get the ball through the center and it failed. Ricardo Costa would have the best chance of the first half and for that matter in the second half as well, as he got to the ball through the chaos after a corner kick, but failed to hit the goal.

Towards the end of the first half David Albelda got injured with what seems a thigh muscle injury and I guess his 35 years of age finally showed as he also played just 3 days ago in the cup against Osasuna. He should have gotten a rest either then or today.

Overall there were several opportunities for Valencia CF in the first half, but the players complicated stuff in the final third too much and failed to convert them to chances or goals.

Second half started with Valencia CF positioning higher on the pitch and Piatti switching from the left wing in the first half to the right and this had a positive effect immediately as Valencia CF were able to move the ball quicker to attack and have more penetration on the right with Piatti and Joao Pereira combining well there.

First goal would come in the 50th minute with Soldado scoring a header to an assist by Adil Rami.

After the goal the team tempo dropped a bit though and for whatever reason Banega started playing as a second striker. This allowed Sevilla FC to start creeping back into the game and slowly regaining control of the midfield. In fact over the match there were few scares for Valencia CF as Tino, Banega and Parejo all lost the ball once in dangerous positions allowing Sevilla fast and dangerous counter attacks, especially the one when Parejo lost the ball or rather he was dispossessed of the ball, with Sevilla attacking with 5 players vs 3, but they failed to score thanks to a rather good save by Diego Alves who was alert and quick to react, even though he had virtually nothing to do for most of the match before that one chance for Sevilla.

Then in the 89th minute Roberto Soldado sealed the deal scoring with a header after a corner kick done by Banega.

Technical Details:
Valencia CF (2): Alves, Joao, Rami, R.Costa, Guardado, Albelda (Tino Costa, min. 40 '), Ever; Piatti (Valdez, min. 81'), Parejo (Victor Ruiz, min.90 '), Jonas, Soldado.
Sevilla FC (0): D. Lopez Cicinho (Perotti, min.63 ') (Baba, min.80'), Fazio, Spahic, F. Navarro; Medel, Kondogbia; Navas, Rakitic, Reyes (Stevanovic, min.83 '); Negredo.
Goals: 1-0 Min 50, Soldado; 2-0 Min89, Soldado.

Player Ratings:
Diego 6 - Had absolutely nothing to do except for a fine save late in the match and did well to save the goal.
Joao Pereira 6 - Had a good match defensively and a great offensive display as he was very active in the first half and providing several passes and crosses into the penalty area.
Rami 7.5 - Great performance by Rami, anticipated the ball very well and had few crucial interceptions, providing the assist to Soldado's first goal as well.
R. Costa 6 - Secure performance from Costa who dealt with everything that came his way.
Guardado 6.5 - Very secure defensive display as he easily dealt with Navas and while he didn't provide too much in attack he did serve as additional midfielder often times and was open to receive the ball.
Albelda N/A - Had a great start, taking the ball out of defense into attack easily and was even involved offensively at times, but unfortunately he got injured and had to be substituted.
Banega 6.5 - Not a great performance by any means, he was quite ineffective in the second half and was barely even involved in the match, receiving the ball only several times. Was lucky enough for his cross from a corner kick to find Soldado and get himself an assist in what was an otherwise poor display.
Piatti 6 - Limited performance from the Argentinian as he was quite ineffective on the left wing, improved a lot when he switched sides and had some good runs on the right.
Parejo 6.5 - Complete performance by Parejo as he was always available to receive the ball and link up with players, dropping deep in the second half and organizing the play. Only one slip up and he was lucky it didn't turn out in a goal for Sevilla FC.
Jonas 6 - Was very involved in the first half, trying serveal passes into the penalty area and trying to find Soldado, but none really worked out. Did provide a good outlet for attack and tracked back often as well.
Soldado 7.5 (MotM) - Scored two goals and decided the game. Was full of running all match long and found himself in great positions to be able to score the two goals.
Subs:
Tino 5.5 - Very limited performance after coming on, making only simple and easy passes, though he did cover for the defense quite somewhat and provided some energy in the middle.
Valdez N/A - Not enough time
Ruiz N/A - Minute after coming on got himself booked.

Valencia CF vs Sevilla FC Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Sevilla FC Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 12.01.2013; 22:00 CET

19th matchday, La Liga

Coaches: Ernesto Valverde and Míchel González

Valencia CF

Valencia CF is coming to this match after a 2-1 victory over CA Osasuna in the Copa Del Rey that puts Valencia CF in the semi final to face off against Real Madrid, in what would be 3 matches against them in a short period of 2 weeks. Valencia CF has 5 wins in the last 6 matches since the arrival of Ernesto Valverde, though 3 of those have been against Osasuna and this will be Valverde's first big challenge.

I got to say that since the arrival of Ernesto Valverde Valencia CF has improved and is playing a more attacking and entertaining football, but we haven't seen some big improvement that would sweep us off our feet, its been more of a gradual, slow improvement. So we'll see just how much or how little improvement has been made tomorrow night against Sevilla FC.

My thoughts are that the match against Sevilla FC is a must win one, I mean Valencia CF is playing at home in the Mestalla, has the form and results coming in and the players have been playing better individually and collectively. On the other hand Sevilla FC have been struggling this season and are worse off than Valencia CF. They have been mediocre all season and their squad is technically weaker than Valencia's squad. I mean they have Hedwiges Maduro who Valencia CF sold as he couldn't get a starting spot in Valencia's squad, although truth be told he hasn't found too many opportunities at Sevilla FC either, with only 7 appearances so far.

Yesterday Valencia CF had some good news from the medical department as Sergio Canales has been given a clean bill of health and he could return to full training and we may even see him given some minutes as substitute towards the end of January. Jeremy Mathieu is also recovering well and is not going to need a surgery, though he still has some time to go before full recovery.

Valencia CF squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Guaita.
Defenders: Joao, Barragán, Rami, Ricardo Costa, Víctor Ruiz, Cissokho.
Midfielders: Albelda, Tino Costa, Parejo, Éver, Piatti, Guardado, Bernat.
Forwards: Jonas, Valdez, Soldado.


Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego; Pereira, Rami, R. Costa, Guardado; Albelda, Banega; Piatti, Jonas, Bernat, Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, mixed passing, mixed attacks.

Sevilla FC

Sevilla FC on the other hand are coming to this match after a 2-1 loss to Mallorca in the cup, though they were already qualified for the next round as they beat Mallorca 5-0 in their first match, so the loss last game wasn't important and they played with a second grade squad mostly, keeping some of the more important players fresh for the match against Valencia CF. Sevilla FC results have been mixed in the past 5 matches, heck they've been mixed the whole season with no trends or strings of results. One match they'd win, other they'd loose and third they'd draw. They have been struggling and performing inconsistently.

Right now they are 12 spot on the table with 22 points out of 18 matches, 6 of which are wins, 4 draws and 8 losses. Their goal scoring record is average with 23 goals scored and 26 goals conceded. So overall statistically speaking they have been decent, with no notable problems. Their top goal scorer is obviously Negredo with 8 goals scored, which is one less than what Soldado has scored in La Liga, while Ivan Rakitic has the most assists in the team with 3, while Valencia CF has several players with more assists then that.

Sevilla FC squad: to be announced...

Technical Details Sevilla FC (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego Lopez; Cicinho, Fazio, Spahic, Navarro; Medel, Kondogbia; Jesus Navas; Rakitic, Reyes; Negredo.
Tactics: Low defensive line, own half pressure, counter attacks, mixed passing, wing attacks mostly.

Result Prediction:
Valencia CF 1-0 Sevilla FC
Valencia CF is in better form and have the better squad no questions about it, so I expect a win, but its probably going to be a hard match with back and forth between both sides that is going to be decided by one goal.

Valencia CF interested in Jeremy Toulan

Jeremy Toulan Malaga CF

French newspaper Lequipe claims that Valencia CF is interested in Jérémy Toulalan and that it could use Malaga's poor financial situation with unpaid salaries in the summer to snatch up Jérémy Toulalan.
Atletico Madrid is also interested in him and they would be in prime position to get him with all the money they would make from the sale of Falcao.

Valencia CF could use the French connection with Jeremy Mathieu, Tino Costa and Adil Rami though to try to persuade Jérémy Toulalan to sign for Valencia CF.

Its unclear right now if Manuel Pellegrini will be available in the summer as well, with Malaga's financial situation getting worse by the day. If he leaves, Valencia CF could try and sign him, though there is likely to be strong competition from other clubs outside of Spain, but since Valencia CF is based in Spain it will have bigger chance to get Pellegrini as he doesn't have any serious experience coaching outside of Spain.

Sergio Canales given clean bill of health

Valencia CF attacking midfielder Sergio Canales got the green light today from Dr. Cugat that he can return to full training and start the process of getting back to playing. Now with that said he is still going to need some time to get back to full fitness and get comfortable with his knee.

Last time he was rushed into action and his knee injury returned, but this time the recovery time was longer and his inclusion in the first team is going to likely be slower as well.

Jeremy Mathieu is still injured though and will need to continue with his recovery, but the doctors have said he won't need an operation. So that is some good news and hopefully he will be back in two to three weeks.