Valencia - Lille

So I totally said I would do a match report on games I watch and I've only just got around to actually typing this up because I'm a lazy cow at the best of times. Anyway, Europa League game #5 of 6. It couldn't have got Valencia an automatic qualification for the knock out stages, but it certainly gave them a fighting chance, and would put them top of the group if results went their way. In order to secure qualification, the safest thing would be to win their final group game against Genoa.

The game started off incredibly well indeed for the home side. They were a goal up within 3 minutes, thanks to a combination of good positioning from Joaquin and very poor defending from the French side. Of course, with Valencia, one goal is never quite good enough. If I'm painfully honest, with Moya in goal, even two goals are rarely good enough. Not to be deterred, Valencia kept pushing, and looked the far more dangerous side in attack. The ball rarely made it into their own half, but when it did, the defence and goalkeeper were (maybe somewhat surprisingly) very good at dealing with the danger.

It wasn't that long until their constant pressing led to another defence splitting pass landing at Joaquin's feet and he made no mistake, burying the ball for the second time that evening to put Valencia 2-0 up at the break.

Lille were playing very dirty, throwing tackles left, right and center, but that didn't seem to affect the flow of the game, and after the break, it was more of the same from Valencia. In the 53rd minute, they were rewarded with their third, Mata scoring to put the game beyond the away side's reach.

It wasn't until the 73rd minute Unai made his first change, taking Mata off probably to rest him for the La Liga game at the weekend and putting Miku on. Three minutes later, Joaquin was substituted, denying him the chance of a hat trick. His replacement, Jordi Alba, made an instant impact on the left wing, making dangerous runs. Apparently too dangerous for the Lille side, who decided that trying to hurt the Valencia players was the only way they were going to get anything out of the game.

Heading towards the final whistle, it looked like Moya was going to keep his first clean sheet since the opening game of the season against Sevilla, but Lille had other ideas. They scored in the 92nd, and went close again just 30 seconds later, making a thrilling end to an otherwise Valencia dominated game.

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This pretty much sums it up...

Albiol on the ground. Alexis flying through the air. Cesar on the ground. Fernandes looking totally in the wrong place and not moving. The ball hitting the back of the net. *sigh* Boys, right now, I don't like you very much. I love you all. I do. But sometimes...sometimes, you make it so effing hard.

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Midweek round up

Liverpool were amaze. I love Yossi. My thinner beaver ♥
I'm going to be sensitive to the Real Madrid fans that I know read my blog and I won't say anything else. You know where to go for the official views on the game by now anyway.

Valencia. Hmm. Unai is totally in my bad books right now. He had a massive talk with Vicente about this like 3 days ago, yet STILL he does not let the boy play. Why the fuck not? What's going on? If you can find a way to accomodate Marchena in midfield, then damn right you can make room for Vicente! Jesus.

Dynamo went a goal up. Dahveed equalised. Goal disallowed for offside. Story of my (and Valencia's) life. And then...then MARCHENA SCORED!!! He's sort of my hero right now. No, it was not a case of mistaken identity, it actually was him. So, end of the 1st half, score 1-1. All even. If it finished like this then extra time beckoned.

Of course, Valencia don't do things like that. They went 2-1 up thanks to a goal from Del Horno, and then fucking threw it away. Again. The defence needs a serious kick up the backsides, because they are letting the team down. It's all fine and dnady scoring boys, but it means fuck all if you can't stop the opposition doing the same. And so 2-2, Valencia out of the UEFA cup and left to concentrate on La Liga and getting into the top 4. If you screw this up Unai...

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Midweek round up

So, the first knockout round of this year's UEFA cup competition. Finishing second in their group meant that Valencia faced a tough draw against a team coming through from the CL. Dynamo Kiev were the home team, and they will have fancied their chances against a Valencia side missing more than half of it's regular defence. The away side needed to prove that they have what it takes to go all the way in this competition, with this being their last remaining hope for silverware this season.

It was snowing hard in Dynamo, unsurprisingly. Unai Emery fielded an arguably weakened side, with players such as Veeyah, Vicente (not that this is anything new) and Joaquin on the bench at the start. Having said that, it was still a more than strong enough starting 11 to be in with a chance. The game started off fast and furious, Silva getting fouled within 2 minutes. Thankfully, he was fine, and believe me, there'd have been trouble if he wasn't! He got fouled again just 3 minutes later. Seriously, stop picking on the boy. Some absolutely shocking defending nearly led to the Dynamo opener after 7 minutes. Thankfully, the ball was too high and the danger had passed. For now. Against the run of play, just a minute later, some great play on the wing from Mata led to the opening goal. Silva was perfectly placed to slot the ball into the back of the net after Mata's brilliant pass. It was a precious away goal, but still nothing was certain. In recent times, Valencia have often found themselves a goal up early on, only to let it slip later in the game. Living up to their rep, the defence was all over the place, and Dynamo nearly equalised twice within the space of two minutes, only luck keeping the score at 1-0 for the away team. After a very busy first 15, the game seemed to quieten down a little. Valencia were getting kicked all over the pitch by Dynamo (and shock horror, the referee gave nothing. Story of my life). Dynamo again came close to equalising on 25 minutes, a foul by Albelda leading to a free kick, which was well taken by Cesar. Valencia were still on the attack though, and missed a great chance to go 2-0 up after 29 minutes. Having watched their defensive frailties lately, it was vital they got another goal, but they had to be careful of leaving the defence exposed. As the game wore on, the defence grew in confidence. Another nervy moment followed on 32 minutes, Cesar blocking a shot, but the ball rebounded into the path of a Dynamo player, who thankfully put the ball wide. The first yellow card of the game was finally shown to a Dynamo player after 36 minutes. About effing time and all, I'd lost count of how many times I'd seen Valencia players picking themselves up off the floor.

The second half started a little shakily for Valencia. Cesar spilled the ball, again giving Dynamo a chance to equalise, but again, they did not take it. Valencia had to stop riding their luck like this though, eventually they would get punished for their mistakes. Albiol gave away a free kick in a very dangerous position about 5 minutes into the half, but thankfully, the wall did it's job and stood firm. Silva was continually getting kicked about, and the referee didn't seem to want to do anything about it. Bastard. And so it goes, despite my numerous warnings, Valencia conceded the inevitable goal. Sure, it was a handball, but when did the referees ever care about small details like that? I mean, they gave a goal for Sevilla even though the guy who scored it was miles offside. And then, as if this referee hadn't fucked them over enough already, he booked Silva. Yes, it was a yellow card, but still. The boy has been fouled HOW many times?? Anyway, while I was busy being all angry about that, the referee sent off a Dynamo player (the goalscorer from what I gathered) for a second booking. Fear me, referees. Having seen enough, Unai brought on the big guns. Well, one of them anyway. Veeyah replaced Silva on 60 minutes, the latter already on a yellow and with a fiery temper, it was a good decision by the Valencia manager. Minutes later, Joaquin was coming on for Pablo.

With 15 minutes to go, it wasn't looking too great for Valencia, the curse of the defence had struck again (although in all fairness, this time, it wasn't their fault) and even against 10 men, they were struggling somewhat. The referee was getting more and more card happy as time wore on. Valencia should have had a PK when Del Horno was hauled down, but apparently, that's not enough anymore. Baraja came on for Fernandes with 10 minutes left as Valencia looked to keep the score the way it was. I had a heart attack or ten when Cesar went down, especially seeing as Valencia had already made all three substitutions. Things were going from bad to worse for them. Thankfully, he was able to continue and Valencia kept enough posession to avoid him having to make too many movements that would expose his injury. An offside decision and a Dynamo substitution later, and it was all over. An awful decision from the referee to allow a clear handball as a goal costing Valencia the game. Though in all fairness, they should have done much better against 10 men for half an hour. Unai didn't play Vicente - again. This confused me because he's fast. Really fast. He'd have caused some serious problems for the Dynamo defence. Then again, at least he was wrapped up warm and at less risk of catching a cold...
The return leg is in just over a week's time. Fingers crossed for a Valencia win then.

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I need to stop (epic post alert)

I don't even know how many of the most recent posts I've done have had something to do with Valencia in some way or another. I guess it's just because I haven't been seeing so many Liverpool games lately. I miss the CL, it needs to hurry up and come back so I can watch them play and remember what I'm missing out on. The last time I saw a Liverpool game live on the telly/internetz was Boxing Day, which is way too long ago. I know that I spend a lot of time ranting about Valencia on this blog, and this is because I see them play almost every week. Although it may not really seem like it sometimes, Liverpool are and will remain my first team. It's just that lately, I've been thinking about what would happen were they to play Valencia at any point in the future, and I think I can safely say I would not know what to do. I don't want either team to lose, but I want them both to win. Impossible, huh?

Anyway, seeing as I haven't really paid much attention to them lately, I figured I'd do a post on all my recent (and not so recent) memories of Liverpool just to let them know that I still love them and I'm still very much a fan. I guess the best place to start on this post is the beginning. I first started watching Liverpool when I was 11 years old. It feels strange that I have been following this team for nearly half my life. It all began with Michael Owen, as you will most probably remember from this post. In fact, it was so long ago, the Liverpool site doesn't even give results back that far. It starts from 1999. I became a fan in 1998. Back then, I didn't understand much about football. I think it's pretty safe to say, I understood nothing. It was just this sport I watched from time to time, but the more I watched, the more I fell in love. I don't even remember too much of my first few years as a Liverpool fan, I was still learning about the game and the players. All I seemed to care about back then was the looks, the talent didn't even cross my mind. I'll be the first to admit that when Steven Gerrard first made it into the Liverpool line up, I wasn't particularly a fan. It wasn't until the 2000-2001 season I finally started seeing past the looks and to the talent. That was the season Liverpool won the UEFA Cup, Worthington Cup (now the Carling Cup) and the FA Cup and it's probably one of the first memories I have firmly embedded. Michael Owen was still my favourite player at that time. Steven Gerrard became my new favourite the season Rafa came to Liverpool and Owen left for bigger things. The Real Madrid subs bench mainly. I never did understand that decision :(

I went to my first live game at Anfield at the start of the 2002-2003 season. Well, I say start of the season, it was actually the pre season friendlies against Lazio on 30th June 2002. I still remember the game (sadly), Lazio won 1-0. I was sat right near the match control room, and saw the goal really rather clearly. I think I swore, but that may just have been the Kop letting the Lazio players know what they thought of that scoreline. This was the season Liverpool beat Manchester United to lift the Worthington Cup. I remember watching that final, I went crazy screaming when Owen scored the second. Sadly, that year, Liverpool finished 5th, just outside the Champions League places, meaning they had to be content with a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season.

The 2004-2005 season is the next one I have big memories from. Rafa B arrived at the club from Valencia (and I think that's another reason I like Valencia so much, they gave us Rafa) and performed miracles to get Liverpool to the CL final. Who could forget that? It had everything. Drama, goals, lucky breaks. At half time, 3-0 down, I really thought that was game over. A small part of me still believed they could do something, ANYTHING to lift the cup, but I didn't think it would actually happen the way it did. I was ready to put my pyjamas on and go to bed when Gerrard got the first. I decided to sit and watch a bit more, and when Smicer got the second just minutes later, I just KNEW that cup was coming home to Liverpool for good. In a crazy 6 minutes in the second half, they got the score back to 3-3. Since then, I don't think I have been as nervous about any game. The FA Cup final the following year came close, as did the Spain-Italy shootout in the Euros in 2008, but Liverpool-Milan tops them all for me. I got so drunk that night, I think I turned up to my exams the next morning with more alcohol in my bloodstream than I had blood. Probably why I failed them really...
They finished 5th in the Prem that year, and only the CL win gave them entry to the competition the following year, on the condition they played from the very start and qualified. Everton weren't best pleased of course, but who gives a shit? They got knocked out of the first qualifying games of both the CL and the UEFA Cup. There's only two teams in Liverpool boys. Liverpool and the Liverpool reserves. The great man Bill Shankly said so himself.

Rafa's second season at Liverpool brought more silverware, this time in the form of the FA Cup. The final that is now known as the Gerrard final because our captain was immense. Say what you like about the man, but his heart and soul goes into every game he plays and you can see how much each win means to him. I would say something cliche along the lines on 'cut him open and he'll bleed Liverpool red' but er...duh! We all do. If you don't, go to the doctor. Seriously, there's something wrong if your blood is not red. The game was again, full of drama. It had many similarities to the CL final the previous season, and the scoreline was the same come the final whistle. Two seasons in English football, two trophies. Not bad going for a newbie.

The 2006-2007 season saw Liverpool once again reach the CL final, where they would once again meet AC Milan. Sadly, this game didn't quite end the same way as their previous meeting. In all fairness, Milan deserved to win the 2005 final and Liverpool deserved to win this one, so justice was served. Over that summer, the boss was busy in the transfer window and the start of 2007-2008 saw a new arrival at the club. Fernando Torres. His first season in the Prem was an absolute blinder. He was easily the best player for me personally that season. He became the highest foreign scorer in his debut season, an honour which had previously belonged to Ruud van Nistelrooy. Had it not been for Cristiano Ronaldo and his many free kicks and penalties, Torres would have been player of the season. He was outstanding in every way that mattered. And then, to top off a great season with Liverpool, he went on international duty with Spain and scored the winner in the Euro final, giving Spain their first major trophy in 44 years.

And so we get to the present season. The closest run race for the title I can remember in years. It's not just a two horse race this year. And the best thing of all...Liverpool are one of those horses. Sitting pretty at the top, they've had some memories to be proud of so far this season. Beating Man U and Chelsea for starters. This is the most points Liverpool have gotten against the other teams in the big 4 since Rafa B arrived, and there's still 3 more games to go! Fingers crossed it all goes well, and this IS the year we win #19. I know I can't wait to see how this will all pan out. Despite all the frustrations against the likes of Stoke and Fulham this year, it's the best I've seen Liverpool play in a long time. They're more confident, it's the strongest team I remember watching in my 10 years as a fan and they're hungry to win things. Ok, so that last point is not much different from other years, but this season, they're showing that hunger on the pitch and (mostly) getting the results when it matters. And when they don't, the other contenders (mostly) slip up too.

I realise this post is about 55000 words long, feel free to wake up now. I just felt the need to get all this off my chest because see for yourself how much attention Liverpool have been getting lately. Ever since I started working weekends, it's basically been...none. I promise I will try to change that.

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CL and UEFA Cup draws

Champions League draw in full:
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

I would just like to point out that I totally predicted that would happen. Not the whole thing obviously. In fact, I think I got all the rest wrong. But I just KNEW Liverpool would get Real Madrid. Ties to be played 24/25 February and 10/11 March.

UEFA Cup draw in full:
Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v Manchester City
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
Aston Villa v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v St Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham

I guess it could have been worse for Valencia. I wanted Aalborg, but whatevs. It'll have to do. The first legs take place on the 18/19 February with the return match on 26 February.

Last 16 UEFA Cup draw:
Werder Bremen/AC Milan v Olympiakos/St Etienne
Aston Villa/CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk/Tottenham
Lech Poznan/Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg/VfB Stuttgart
Paris St Germain/Wolfsburg v Braga/Standard Liege
Dynamo Kiev/Valencia v Sampdoria/Metalist Kharkiv
FC Copenhagen/Manchester City v Aalborg/Deportivo La Coruna
Marseille v FC Twente v Fiorentina/Ajax
NEC Nijmegen/Hamburg v Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray

Yeah, it could definitely have been worse for them. Ties to be played on 12 March and 18/19 March

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Midweek round up

With a win, Valencia would guarantee themselves top spot in their group. They did not need to worry about booking a qualification spot, having done that in the last game, but finishing top would be important in order to avoid the big names in the next round. Unai Emery once again put his faith in the young guns, but there were some regulars in the team as well. Joaquin and Vicente were working their magic on the wings and for the first 20 minutes or so, all was going well, until St Etienne took the lead. Just a few minutes later, Valencia were back on level terms, Mori getting the goal. It wasn't to last long though. A rookie mistake from the goalie just before the half time whistle meant they went in 2-1 down at half time and needing 2 goals (without conceding any more) to top the group.

The second half was very much dominated by the away team (who were looking mighty fine without that unibet shit all over the shirt!) and Zigic equalised. In typical fashion, I missed the goal. But at any rate, 2-2 was not enough to get them to top spot, and they will now face one of the teams that have dropped out of the Champions League.

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Midweek round up

With one eye on the La Liga fixture against Barcelona this Saturday, Unai Emery selected a weakened side to play against Brugge. David Villa (who turned 27 yesterday, in case you didn't know) was left out completely, probably because he was so busy being not drunk last night, he couldn't make it in today. I kid, I kid, he's just too important to them to risk being injured before such a big game in the domestic league.

Basically, the first half was pap, it finished 1-0 to Brugge and Valencia weren't really playing like they wanted it. The second half saw Vicente brought on by Emery and suddenly, they were attacking, making forward runs and generally doing rather well. They got a goal to even the scores up at 1-1 and they carried on being the more attacking force. The left wing was the biggest attacking threat for Valencia. He's kind of good, that Vicente...
Also, just because I felt like it, I got this screen cap:
Oh. Sweet. Jesus. Brb, having heart attack. Or something which makes me feel short of breath and dizzy. (Oh, and the final score was 1-1)

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Midweek round up

Liverpool are once again made of win. They won 1-0 last night, booking their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League in doing so. They were playing a Marseille side who had beaten them in the competition last season, but there was to be no repeats of last season. The Liverpool team was arguably the strongest starting 11 available to Rafa B, and their class showed through.

The first half was a much better performance from them, Steven Gerrard scoring from a Xabi Alonso cross to put them 1-0 up. It was his 5th goal in the competition so far, equalling Leo Messi's tally. It also helped settle Liverpool's nerves, that goal essentially putting them through to the knockout stages. There were other chances, and Pepe Reina was rarely called into action.

The second half proved a bit more of a contest, Marseille coming back into the game a little more and enjoying more of the possession. The win was later overshadowed by news of injuries to Fernando Torres and Fabio Aurelio, both players set to be on the sidelines for at least 2 weeks. Not only this, but Liverpool's job is still not done. If they want to have a more realistic prospect of progressing further into the competition, they need to finish first in the group to avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Much of the build up to the Valencia game was centered around comments published on the Rosenborg official site (see below post for evidence) and the team would have been even more motivated than usual to prove a point and walk away with a win. They'd already stated that they were not playing for revenge, they just wanted to get the three points.

They were 1-0 up midway through the first half, and basically controlling the game. Rosenborg clearly don't know how to play football, because they were kicking Valencia players, but not the ball. Renan got kicked in the head, but he was ok. Seriously, who let these animals near the beautiful game? Anyway, the first half finished 1-0, and aside from the goal, other things that made me happy were seeing Dahveed all wrapped up on the bench and Mata's bum. Things that made me sad included a perfectly good goal being disallowed for offside. Again. Poor Mata.

Not to be denied though, Pablo scored an absolute stunner of a goal to put Valencia 2-0 up, and after that, goals from Baraja and Joaquin completed the rout, 4-0 the final score. So maybe Rosenborg regret what they did, but you can bet it's because it only seemed to motivate Valencia to play better. They're back to the convincing displays from the start of the season, scoring goals for fun. They did themselves and the fans proud.

At the end of the game, the Rosenborg players had the cheek to ask the Valencia boys for their shirts. It that was me, I'd be ashamed to face them, never mind ask for their shirts. If I was a Valencia player, I would tell them to go fuck themselves. Still, it was a comprehensive win, and a well deserved one at that, they dominated play from start to finish.Eat shit Rosenborg, step down and let the big boys show you how it's done. Not bad for a bunch of 'coward fags' huh?

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Referees phail at life

It was their first group game in this years' competition and they should have won relatively easily. The first half was a relatively slow affair, with not many notable chances. The one moment of the half that stood out for me (other than pretty much any time the camera zoomed on Vicente) was a poor tackle from a Copenhagen player on Renan, who was thankfully able to continue the game.

My stream cut out at the start of the second half so I have no idea what happened or how for about 15 minutes of the game. Mata came on very early in the second half in an attempt to boost Valencia's attack. This seemed to pay off, Morientes getting the opening goal just five minutes later. It would be just my luck that I missed the goal, but got my stream back about 10 minutes later. Ugh.

Anyway, besides drooling over Vicente and willing him to score, I didn't really pay too much attention to the game. *feels like a very bad fan* Baraja was replaced with Fernandes, another attacking change by Unai Emery. The final substitution was my favourite of the night. Veeyah on for Mori. This came just seconds after Valencia had a second goal disallowed for offside. With this strike force, another goal seemed inevitable. Sadly for Valencia, the next goal in the game did not come from one of their players. They will feel hard done by as they had a good goal disallowed for offside, and the Copenhagen goal came from a foul throw.

Sometimes, football is unfair, and Valencia will feel they should have got more than a point from this game, but they should have been well ahead long before the equaliser went in. They only have themselves to blame. Let's just hope they'll be back to winning ways at the weekend.

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Why, cruel fate?

Oh Nando. How my heart breaks for you. I am actually on the verge of tears for more than one reason. The full list is:

• Nando's out for at least 4 games, meaning Liverpool are missing their most dangerous striker for that long.
• One of those games is against Atletico Madrid - a game I'm sure he was looking forward to.
• As luck would have it, it would have been his return to the place that made him the footballer he is today. The Vicente Calderón.
• Stupid UEFA decided to wait until it was confirmed Nando is out of the game to reveal they have lifted the home ban on Atleti, meaning the game will go ahead as planned and not at a neutral ground.

I mean, really? You had to be that heartless? The poor boy was in tears leaving the pitch the other night, it was like he just knew what UEFA had planned. The selfish part of me cares about Liverpool and how they're going to cope with *shudders* Robbie Keane up front. The part with the heart...I just want to lash out and kill those bastards at UEFA for doing this.

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UEFA cup draw

Group G:
Valencia CF
Club Brugge
Rosenborg
FC Copenhagen
Saint-Etienne

Firstly, I'm going to get all the fangirliness out of the way. OMGOMGOMG!! They're in group G, which I would usually hate because it's an odd number...BUT - G is the first letter in my name. It's also the 7th letter in the alphabet. Veeyah plays with the #7 shirt. MFEO much?

Ok, anyway, back to the important business. I'm not going to bother with the other groups, because quite frankly, I don't care about them. Valencia drew an alright group. I mean, it could have been worse. Then again, it could have been better. I'd have liked an English team. Portsmouth to be precise. They're within stalking distance. I suppose that my plan to abduct the whole team is going to have to wait. As Blue so kindly pointed out, the universe wants to wait until Silva's back so I can meet the full team of hotties. And seeing as there's no English team in the group, I'll have to hope that the TV people will be nice enough to show the games live on ONE of the millions of sports channels around.

Seeing as 3 of 5 teams go through to the next round, I'm pretty confident my boys can make it out. I don't know all that much about the other teams, but I know enough about Valencia to feel confident. They've made a great start to the season, and hopefully they can keep that going. And then if I'm lucky, the draw will be kind enough to ensure that they play an English team so I can put my plan into action. *makes mental note to research the other teams in the group later*

The fixtures are as follows:

6th November - Valencia CF vs FC Copenhagen
27th November - Rosenborg vs Valencia CF
4th December - Valencia CF vs Club Brugge
17th December - Saint-Etienne vs Valencia CF

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