Valencia CF - La Liga no longer a 2 horse race

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Valencia undefeated in 3

Match day 9

Real Zaragoza 0 – 0 Valencia CF
Jordi Alba 65'(Val)
Lanzaro 73' (Zar)



Match Facts
6 Shots 7
2 Shots on target 4
49% Possession 51%
15 Tackles 13
2 Fouls 4
33% Shot Accuracy 57%
83% Pass Accuracy 79%


Man of the match: Barragan (Zar) 6.80
Passes Completed 22/23
Dribbles Completed 10/11
Tackles Won 2/5
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Valencia made it 3 games undefeated after playing out a 0-0 with bottom of the Real Zaragoza. Valencia seemed to dominate the game after having Jordi Alba sent off so 1 has to wonder what they could have done with all 11 men on the pitch. Although both teams had chances to win, Valencia subsitute Beckham came closest after his free kick hit the post with only 13 minutes remaining.

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Valencia lose at home again!!!
Match day 10

Valencia CF 0 – 1 Athletic Bilbao

Ander Herrera 68' (Ath)

Match Facts
7 Shots 10
4 Shots on target 8
53% Possession 47%
9 Tackles 17
0 Fouls 5
57% Shot Accuracy 80%
85% Pass Accuracy 86%

Man of the match: Diego Alves (Val) 7.40

Saves 11
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Another home defeat put more pressure upon young manager Jamie Coull as his job looks anything but secure. A strike from Ander Herrera was enough to put the game beyond Valencia. The Spanish giants are being hurt this year due to a lack of goals but with star striker and captian Soldado playing upfront along the £20M summer signing Di Natale this should not be the case!

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Soldado wants more from team mates, Mathieu leaving?

Talking to press before Valencia's upcoming 2nd round Spanish cup with Xerez CD, captain Soldado has made it clear that his fellow teams mates need to start producing on the field. The striker said "As you can see the performances have just not been good enough and that is why we currently sit 15th in table. Before the season started we had hopes of challenging for the title but already those hopes are gone. Barcelona are already 19 points ahead of us after only 10 games, it's really unacceptable. They have quality players obviously through out the entire squad like Messi, Xavi, Puyol and so on but that is still no excuse. We have to fight to try and claim a Champions League spot, we also have Xerez next in the cup so it's vital we win that 1st leg and go on to have a good cup run. We owe it to the fans." Other news also coming from the Valencia camp is that Left Back Mathieu is upset. Apparently the frenchman is missing family and friends and is struggling to adapt to life in Spain. It is rumoured that french clubs Bordeaux and Lille are interesting in taking the defender away from the Mestalla.

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Copa Del Ray 2nd Round 1st leg
Valencia CF 1 – 2 Xerez CD

Bruno Herrera 2' (Xer)
Cordero 15' (Xer)
Piatti 15' (Val)
Jonas 28' (Val)
Ricardo Costa 61' (Val)
Jonas 68' (Val)



Match Facts
5 Shots 11
4 Shots on target 6
52% Possession 48%
10 Tackles 9
3 Fouls 3
80% Shot Accuracy 54%
83% Pass Accuracy 86%


Man of the match: GK Dobias (Xer) 6.90

Saves 5

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Only a half full Mestalla Stadium witnessed the 2 early goals that saw Xerez take a 2-1 lead into the 2nd leg of the cup. Valencia pushed hard to get back into the game however Xerez defended well and always looked dangerous in the counter attack. Valencia manager Jamie Coull did not have much to say about his sides defeat but he did say this: "I'm really sorry for the fans tonight, this was not in the plan. I can assure you all we will make this right in the 2nd leg."

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Same as usual.....

Match day 11

Valencia CF 1 – 2 Getafe
Arizemndi 4' (Get)
Arizmendi 45' (Get)
Di Natale (Pen) 30' (Val)

Match Facts
10 Shots 12
6 Shots on target 6
44% Possession 56%
5 Tackles 19
2 Fouls 5
60% Shot Accuracy 50%
75% Pass Accuracy 84%

Man of the match: Arizmendi (Get) 7.50

Goals 2
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Same old story at the Mestalla, Valencia were simply just not good enough against a pretty average Getafe side. Looks like neither of these teams will be playing European football next season!

La Liga
Pos/Team/P/GD/PTS
1. Barcelon 11 +27 31
2. Real Madrid 11 +20 27
3. Atletico Madrid 11 +15 22
4. Villarreal 10 +12 22
5. Athletic Bilbao 11 +11 22
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13. Getafe 11 -7 11
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15. Valencia 11 -8 9

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Valencia have 2 goalkeepers recieve reds!!


Match day 11

Levante 3 – 0 Valencia CF
Diego Alves 23' (Val)
Barkero (Pen) 25' (Lev)
Xavi Torres 45' (Lev)
Kone 65' (Lev)
Guaita 80' (Val)




Match Facts
17 Shots 5
8 Shots on target 4
54% Possession 46%
14 Tackles 11
1 Fouls 5
47% Shot Accuracy 80%
87% Pass Accuracy 77%


Man of the match: Ballesteros (Lev) 7.20

Passes Completed 11/11
Tackles Won 3/7

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In a bizarre match tonight in La Liga saw Valencia have not just 1 but 2 goalkeepers sent off! Alves saw red after just 23 minutes however his replacement Guiata was also sent off with 10 minutes remaining and striker Jonas had to play the remainder of the game between the sticks. The rest was easy for Levante as they cruised to a 3-0 victory. Young Valencia keeper Cristiano Pereira will make his debut this season in the 2nd leg of the Copa Del Rey due to suspensions. Mr Coull refused to talk at the end of the game.

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Di Natale misses 2 penalties as Valencia go crashing out in the 2nd round



Copa Del Ray 2nd Round 2nd leg
Xerez CD 3 – 2 Valencia CF

Bruno Herrera 2' (Xer)
Banega 33' (Val)
Soldado 61' (Val)
Mendoza 65' (Xer)
Miguel 65' (Val)
Jose Mari 90' (Xer)
Jordi Alba 90' (Val)



Match Facts
6 Shots 19
6 Shots on target 9
51% Possession 49%
16 Tackles 7
2 Fouls 3
100% Shot Accuracy 47%
85% Pass Accuracy 76%


Man of the match: GK Dobias (Xer) 7.60

Saves 8

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Valencia got knocked out of the Copa Del Rey even though £20M striker Di Natale missed 2 penalties to put his side into a winning position. The Italian had the following to say after the game "I don't know what to say, my team are out of the cup and it's all my fault." Manager Jamie Coull also had words to say during the post match interview "I don't want anyone blaming Di Natale we win togethor and we lose togethor, we play as a team not as individuals. However i want to know what the ref was playing at for their 2nd goal! Our player Ruiz was clearly fouled yet the ref has played on......shocking decision. At the end of the day did the best team win that match? Hell no but that does not get us into the next round. Now we concentrate on the league and getting 3rd place! It will not be easy but i know we can do it."

[Jam_Van_Dam]

Di Natale misses another penalty
Match day 12
Valencia CF 0 – 2 Real Madrid

Starting line up

Guaita GK---GK Casillas
Miguel ---RB Sergio Ramos
Gallas CB---CB Pepe
Victor Ruiz CB---CB Lucio
Jordi Alba ---LB Marcelo
Pablo Hernandez RM---RM Di Maria
Beckham CM---CM Xabi Alonso
Banega CM---CM B. Schweinsteiger 37'
Piatti LM---LM C. Ronaldo 48'
Soldado CF--- AM Kaka
Di Natale ST--- CF Higuain

-------------------------------------------------------
Subs

Albelda CM --- Khedira CM
A Costa AM --- Sahin AM
Jonas CF --- Jaselu CF

Match Facts

7 Shots 18
4 Shots on target 11
47% Possession 54%
12 Tackles 16
3 Fouls 4
57% Shot Accuracy 61%
75% Pass Accuracy 8%7

Man of the match: C. Ronaldo (Rma) 7.20
1 Goal
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Real Madrid dominated at the Mestalla to give them a comforable 2-0 victory over rivals Valencia. Goals from Schweinsteiger and Ronaldo were more than enough to get all 3 points however this may not had been the case if Di Natale scored his early 12th minute penalty. The win keeps Real only 4 points behind league leaders Barcelona while defeat sends Valencia bottom of the table and nobody would have predicted that 4 months ago.

La Liga
Pos/Team/P/GD/PTS
1. Barcelona 13 +32 37
2. Real Madrid 13 +23 33
3. Villarreal 13 +15 29
4. Atletico Madrid 13 +17 28
5. Sevilla 13 +16 23
----------------------------

16. Rayo Vallecano 13 -12 11
17. Real Zaragoza 13 -13 11
18. Racing Club 13 - 13 10
19. Real Sporting 13 -11 9
20. Valencia 13 -13 9