3rd Place, Here We Come!
By: Cesar | April 23rd, 2009
So can we defeat Barcelona at the Mestalla this Saturday?
Based on Valencia CF’s current form, I say, ‘Why not?’
Yesterday, it was a resounding 2-1 victory against Real Betis.
Take a look at David Villa’s first goal of the match, a wonder finish if I’ve ever seen one. The goal made the #3 play in the Top 10 Plays of the Day for ESPN’s Sportscenter here in the United States. First time I remember anyone on Sportscenter mention Valencia. They did mispronounce David Villa’s name, though.
I didn’t watch the match and although I’ve heard it was about as exciting as watching paint dry, it did move us to within two points of 3rd place Sevilla. Champions League next season?
Not so fast. We still have Barcelona this weekend followed by Real Madrid, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid. But we’re hot right now, so anything’s possible.
No matter what, I’m adding my voice to the thousands at the Mestalla and the millions worldwide in wishing Our Beloved buena suerte in what’s turning into the Match of the Season. I’ll be holding court at Nevada Smith’s in New York along with a few other Valencianistas (if you’re around, stop by!) … I may not be in Valencia, but trust me when I say I will be heard.
Who’d have thought it? A few weeks ago, we were sounding our death knell, wondering where our club would be next season.
Now, we’re on the precipice of 3rd place … Not where we wanted to be at the start of the season, but miles better than where we were a month ago …
Being a Valencia supporter sure is a roller coaster ride, eh?
We’re in 4th place with 55 points and only 6 matches left. We’re a mere two points from Sevilla, so should Los Rojiblancos stutter against Real Madrid this weekend, we could conceivably be in 3rd place by the end of the weekend.
Wow.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
We have a massive match against 1st-place Barcelona at the Mestalla this weekend.
Barcelona are the best team on planet Earth, according to the football genius that runs laps for cheese in my brain. They have a solid strike force in Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, a wonderful midfield in Xavi and Andres Iniesta and a decent defense in Daniel Alves and Carles Puyol.
Oh, and some guy named Lionel Messi.
So ya, they’re stacked. They’re awesome. They’re super duper extra delicious.
But they can be beat. Numancia’s done it, Espanyol’s done it and Atletico Madrid did it. Not only that, Barca are a busy team the next few days, playing a Champions League semi-final against Chelsea on Tuesday followed by a match-up against eternal rivals Real Madrid next weekend at the Bernabeu.
So maybe, just maybe, we can sneak a win here.
It’s not like we don’t have the talent to do it. More importantly, the squad seems to be believing in themselves a lot more these days, as are the fans. Mestalla was a cauldron this past weekend against Sevilla. What do you think it’s going to be like against Barca? Rocking, I’d assume.
Unfortunately, it looks like Joaquin and David Albelda will miss the match due to injury.
Albelda twisted ligaments in his left ankle during training and is expected to be out for two to three weeks. Winger Joaquin damaged his right ankle against Real Betis on Wednesday and will be sidelined for up to two weeks.
Not sure whether these are grave losses or not. Joaquin substitute Pablo Hernandez has been playing nicely of late. And Albelda, who played right back against Real Betis yesterday, isn’t exactly Jocelyn Angloma as a defender. But with the injury bug hitting our squad, who will take his place? His natural position is in the middle. Do we really want to see 87-year old Ruben Baraja and his walker defend Xavi and Messi? How about Red-Card Carlos Marchena? Daunting thoughts, all of them …
Is Moretti fit and able to come back? Will Del Horno’s bumbling defending come into Saturday’s game to help Barcelona? Will Miguel ever play again?
Questions to ponder the next few days.
Now that I’m done stalking Claudio Lopez, I’m as excited as a school girl (yes, 2nd time I’ve used that metaphor) for Saturday’s game.
Football’s a wonderful game with many ups and downs. We’re experiencing an UP right now. Let’s hope the good times continue to roll this Saturday at the Mestalla. AMUNT!
Category: Team News
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Comments
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hi all ,
how r u ????
Tomorrow we face the Most OVER-RATED club in UNIVERSE
2 Defensive Midfielders in their best & Moderate 4 players Upfront & Well-Organized 4 players in Defense CAN EASILY HANDLE US THE MATCH
Lets get that damn THIRD PLACE
Live Chat and Enjoy our 4-2 VICTORY , anyone ????
CyaPosted from
United States
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& BTW , there were NO DRAWS last week
!!!!Posted from
United States -
today i feel like a dog with two dicks,everything has gone well at work,i planted a garden with cannabis plants and the owner didnt notice ,i got a good deal on a new car and my wife bought me dinner and even paid.my village is in fiesta and i have a ticket for the game.
its an omen.a big fat omen.vamos a ganar
A M U N T
Posted from
Spain -
Alright lads, we are guaranteed a win. 5 matches ago I put “AMUNT MOTHERFUCKERS! AMUNT!” as my status on Facebook. Every game since then we have won.
I just updated my status
…http://www.facebook.com/srch.php?nm=Kyle+Coppess
Posted from
United States -
This new CL qualifications system baffles me:
4th placed teams from Spain, England & Italy, and 3rd placed teams from Germany & France (associations ranked 1-5) will be playing in fourth qualification round (”Play-offs”) with five remaining clubs from associations ranked 6 to 15.
Okay, this is clear.
Now, can clubs from associations 1-5 meet each other or are they playing against lower seeded associations exclusively? Is there a seeding system or not?
The 2009/10 competition format regulations are not clear in this matter:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/format/newsid=788373.htmlPosted from
Slovenia -
@ QUIN. The round before the group stage (The 3rd round aka 3rd qualifying round) USED to be seeded, BUT NOW it is NOT SEEDED. So in the past, someone like Arsenal would play someone from Croatia, or Bulgaria. BUT NOW, Arsenal could play Valencia, or Genoa/Fiorentina/Roma (4th place Italy). Anyone can play anyone.
Posted from
United States -
So in other words we have a 50% chance of meeting someone from a better league now….
Im just a bit confused about something here about the new CL system. Let’s say if Barca win the CL AND win la liga. The CL winner gets an automatic seat in next year’s CL, so does that mean that 4th place in Spain doesnt have to play in the qualification rounds and gets automatically into the group stage??
So does this mean we have to all cheer for Barca to win the CL?
Posted from
Kuwait -
No, the Liverpool thing was a fluke. They took a spot away from a lower league team that year.
Posted from
United States -
This should clear the misunderstanding and importance of finishing third in the league..
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/format/newsid=788882.html
Posted from
United States -
@Kyle: But this isnt like the Liverpool issue. Im just wondering since they changed the rules….the defending champions automatically qualify and so do the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Spanish league. So if the 1st in the Spanish league is the defending champion, wouldnt that extra slot in the group stage go to the 4th in Spain? I mean there is a slot in the group stage for both the defending champion and the 1st in Spain, and if Barca win both titles then they have to fill that slot with another team to complete the 32 teams for the group stage.
Posted from
Kuwait -
What a crappy format! It means now WE HAVE TO WIN ALL REMAINING MATCHES, because WE MUST STEAL SEVILLA’S POSITION.
NO OTHER CHOICE
Michel Platini = Holy Crap
Posted from
United States -
@ siva: can you please explain me what PO* stands for? (Is it playoff?) And if it is playoff what will the detail be? I saw there are 5 countries which will include one of their club in the playoff. Will we face the likes of Arsenal (England 4th), Fiorentina/Milan (Italy 4th), perhaps Bayern Munich/Hamburg (Germany 3rd) directly on the pitch? Or will UEFA take the best 4 of 5 clubs based on their league’s points? or what?
Please explain me.
Posted from
United States -
I don’t understand the UEFA’s explanation at the bottom. What do they mean by * Best-Placed Path?
Posted from
United States -
Well, I understand now after reading the link from Quin.
I can say that we’ll have some probabilities to fail for Champions League group stage next season if we finish 4th this term, because we’ll face Arsenal, AC Milan, Bayern, and even Dinamo Kiev.
So, we must finish 3rd, starting by a win against Azulgrana this Saturday.
Posted from
United States -
@Kyle:
You’re wrong about the Liverpool CL thing. When they won CL in 2005 and finished 5th in premiership that year, UEFA gave them “special inviation” for CL, they started qualifications from 1st round. That year England might have had 5 teams in CL but Everton (4th in premiership) screwed up; I think they were eliminated in 3rd round by Benfica.@Fayez:
If Barca wins CL this year there won’t be any changes to Spain team’s qualifications. Barca’ll be at least 2nd in liga and therefore qualify for CL automatically anyway.Well, Platini’s system is fair to lower seeded countries, that’s what he promised when elected. I think it’s not bad, it’ll make 4th qualifying round (so called “PlayOff”) really interesting, a mini-CL before CL.
No tragedy in the new system, if we’re 4th in liga our real tough adversaries would come from England & Italy, maybe Germany. That leaves six easier teams. Not a bad percentage.
Posted from
Slovenia -
Bob, glad to hear it, måte. Just got into valencia. Ring my mate it and when u wannna meet up. Javier, u in town?
Posted from
United States -
@Quin. Fayez’s point, as i understood it, was that there is a spot reserved for the previous CL winner and if Barca takes that spot, would it allow another 3 teams from La Liga to enter the group stages.
Posted from
United States -
@ Nithin: Thats exactly what I meant!
There is a spot reserved for the previous winner (say Barca) AND for the 1st/2nd in Spain. So if Barca occupied both CL and 1st/2nd Spain, what happens to that spot? Does it go to directly to the 4th in Spain (as 3rd already has an automatic spot)?
Posted from
Kuwait -
@ Quin: I don’t care about lower-seeds club! I care about Valencia CF! And I will consider every decision goes against us as a bad one.
@ Nithin/everyone understands: What will happen if Barca wins CL this season? Does it mean that the CL Group Stage spot will go directly to the 4th place, which means we don’t have to attend play-off and qualifies directly for next season’s CL Group Stage?
Posted from
United States -
i think that is correct..of barca wins the CL this year .automatic qualification for next CL will be the 4 th place..
Posted from
United States -
It is the easiest match of the year. Who will be disappointed if we lose? Even if Barca smashed us up we would neither be the first nor the only nor the last team.
You needn’t motivate anybody. There is a special atmosphere tickling everybody.
Matches like this can turn out to be special. We might lose, but we try to win – because if we have fear we have already lost.
3 teams proved it this season, but not long ago we proved it ourselves: Barca can be beaten!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_rX_f-ovOw&feature=channel_page
There are 4 important players of them in danger of being booked: Puyol, Xavi, Alves and Eto’o. What is more, Alves is not a stunner in defense line – Mata and Silva are able to bring him huge problems or at least less ability to support the right wing of Barca.
Eric Abidal, the left back, is experienced, but not fast – Pablo should have a chance against him. If Puyol plays he has to be careful against Villa because of the possilbe booking – if not there will be Marquéz or Piqué who are decent, but not world class.
When Marchena started as DM against Betis, our central defence was much more compact in my opinion – we capt it tight. His only mistake he made when he had to play as CB again – it led to the goal.
With Miguel we have one more option in build-up, a very good one. He can support Pablo on the right wing and is our only defender whose top speed is not universes away from the one of Henry.
Hey, let’s try! We can draw, we can win, we have a chance!
AMUNT VALENCIA!
Posted from
Germany -
Here is the thing about 4th spot. It doesn’t guarantee that we would face a team from Germany, England, Italy, etc. There is just a bigger chance of it. We could still get someone from Bulgaria, Russia, Czech Republic, etc.
But first, let’s make the CL. We are getting ahead of ourselves.
Posted from
United States -
Caballeros, I just got our tickets in the mail at the hotel. Apparently, the company, at the last minute, emailed my mate and said our tickets were downgraded. So, as of now, we´re sitting at the ¨Gol Xicotet Bajo B¨, Vomitorio 430. I know these aren´t that great, but are they horrible? Where exactly are they? When will the scalpers be around Mestalla? I might try to sell these and buy better ones.
Posted from
United States -
Yea Platini promissed new qualification system because at this system smaller clubs will at 3rd qualification round always face some big team from England,France,Italy,Spain,Germany etc.and it is very difficult for them to qualify for CL.So new system is a bit easier for that clubs(teams from Serbia,Croatia,Slovenia,Bulgaria,Romania etc).
Posted from
United States -
AMUNT VALENCIA!!
I believe in you guys!!!
Posted from
United States
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