Deportivo La Coruna vs Valencia CF Match Report
Stadium: Riazor
Date: 26.01.2013; 22:00 CET
21th matchday, La Liga
Coaches: Domingos Paciência and Ernesto Valverde
Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo La Coruna are coming to this match after a series of mixed results which weigh more towards the bad scale, with only one win, two losses and two draws. It isn't the worst series for them, they've had worse this season and that is why they are struggling in the relegation zone, but the last five results they've have aren't getting them out of the zone. In fact they are dead last on the table with only 16 points out of 20 matches so far.They are not alone though, as several clubs are within 3 points from them and a series of wins could propel them into the middle of the table, though from what we've seen from them so far, that is highly unlikely to happen, which is a shame because the first match they played against Valencia CF they showed big potential and scored 3 past Valencia CF to manage a draw.
The biggest problem for Deportivo La Coruna has been their inability to win matches and this has been the case because they have the worst defense in La Liga by far with as much as 42 goals conceded and while their attack has been decent, scoring 24 goals, they've been unable to catch up with the defense. In fact Deportivo only has 3 wins so far in the season, while having lost 10 matches.
In fact due to their poor results their last coach Jose Luis Oltra was sacked, but unfortunately the results didn't start improving with the new coach Domingos. To make matters worse, they've actually had Carlos Marchena in the defense for most of the matches and he's been terrible, obviously at the end of his career and he should just end it when the season ends, he just isn't competitive anymore.
Deportivo La Coruna squad:
Aranzubia, Lux (goalkeepers); Manuel Pablo, Sílvio, Aythami, Ze Castro (defenders); Álex Bergantiños, André Santos, Jesús Vázquez, Juan Dominguez, Assunção, Bruno Gama, Pizzi, Salomão, Camuñas, Valerón (midfielders); Riki & Nélson Oliveira (strikers).
Technical Details Deportivo La Coruna (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Aranzubia; Pablo, Ze Castro, Aythami, Silvio; Alex, Paulo; Bruno, Andre Santos, Pizzi; Riki.
Tactics: Low defensive line, own half pressure, counter attacks, mostly long passing, doubling down defense.
Valencia CF
Valencia CF on the other hand is coming to this match after a poor series against Real Madrid. All of the fans, Spanish and international were full of belief that Valencia CF can surprise and beat Real Madrid, and this feeling was confirmed in the first match where even though Valencia CF lost, it deserved to win, it outplayed Real Madrid and were damaged by the referees as well.All of these positive feelings would be crushed in the second match in La Liga though as Real Madrid destroyed Valencia CF 5-0 in the first half. I blame the coach for that loss for not playing Barragan as the right back and also not playing Cissokho, which with just those two changes I believe the result would have been different and even if we lost, if wouldn't have been such a terrible, huge loss.
Anyways the final match was in the second leg of the cup and Valencia CF came in improved over the previous game, but could only manage to draw with Real Madrid, even though they were playing with one man less for the whole second half. Ultimately the result ended in a 1-1 draw, but it showed Valencia's inability to open up tight defenses and that it really struggles in creating chances and even when they create chances, if its not for Soldado to take them, no one can.
Valencia CF is in 7th position right now with 30 points and desperately needs a win tonight if they are to continue fighting for a Champions League spot, because the next match is against FC Barcelona and don't expect a win there. At best we should be happy with a draw, but my point is if we don't win tonight, we are 6 points down, since we aren't going to win against Barcelona and might as well say goodbye to Champions League football for the next season.
David Albelda is thankfully back in the squad after suffering a small injury in the first match against Real Madrid, Fernando Gago is out of the squad because the club is looking to sell him as I've reported, while Roberto Soldado, Daniel Parejo and Jeremy Mathieu are out due to injuries.
Valencia CF squad:
Goalkeepers: Guaita, Diego Alves
Defenders: Barragán, Joao Pereira, Víctor Ruiz, Ricardo Costa, Rami, Cissokho
Midfielders: Albelda, Tino Costa, Banega, Piatti, Viera, Bernat, Guardado, Canales
Forwards: Jonas, Valdez
Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Alves; Pereira, Rami, R. Costa, Guardado; Albelda, Banega; Piatti, Jonas, Bernat; Valdez.
Tactics: High defensive line, own half pressure, high frequency wing attacks, mixed passing, doubling down in attack.
Result Prediction:
Deportivo La Coruna 0-2 Valencia CF
As decent as Deportivo are in attack, they are not likely to be able to go through Valencia's midfield to reach the goal and I don't expect a repeat of the last match. I think its going to be a tight match, but with Deportivo defense so bad, Valencia CF are going to manage to score two goals.
