Valencia-Barca = Please Win! Please!

By: Cesar | April 24th, 2009

Tomorrow’s the big day.

Valencia-Barcelona at the Mestalla and this one’s more than a game.

There are Spanish championship implications for Barca.

There are Champions League implications for us.

There’s the race to the Pichichi between strikers David Villa and Samuel Eto’o and there’s going to be a raucous, rambunctious crowd filling the Mestalla looking to cheer their hearts out.

Add all of them up and they make for a delicious football recipe.

We’ve won five games in a row, which should fill us with confidence when we step onto the pitch with the league leaders and current Champions League semifinalists.

We’re one of the hotter teams in Spain, but that won’t matter come Saturday evening.

Barcelona have an all-star team at their disposal. Henry, Iniesta, Xavi, Eto’o, Marquez, Yaya, Alves, Messi, etc etc etc … I could go on and on. They even have an All-Star manager, the well-dressed Pep Guardiola.

One ingredient that could be to our advantage is that the Catalan giants play Chelsea on Tuesday in Europe, then come back to face Real Madrid in the annual slugfest/war at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Should Dani Alves, Yaya, Sergi Busquets, Xavi or Eto’o be booked, they’re out of next weekend’s Classico. I doubt this means much, but you never know.

Our Beloved are a bit out of sorts. Joaquin suffered a right ankle knock against former club Real Betis on Wednesday and will be sidelined for up to two weeks. David Albelda twisted ligaments in his left ankle during training and is expected to be out for two to three weeks.

This could create problems in the midfield. Albelda was the glue (supposedly) between the defense and the midfield. Carlos Marchena will probably fill that role, so expect either a red card or the likes of Messi to run rampant at our central defense.

Our defense, which is always out of sorts, will be back to full strength with big-boned Miguel back from suspension and Emiliano Moretti back from injury. The middle will probably be occupied by Alexis and Albiol, who will have to be on their A-Game with Marchena sitting in front of them.

The absence of Joaquin means the appearance of Pablo Hernandez, who’s on very good form the past few weeks.

I worry whether our midfield can contain Messi, Eto’o, etc. enough to maintain a consistent attack. I’ve no worries about the David’s (Villa and Silva) or Mata and Pablo. What I’m concerned about is Marchena and Baraja. Should Ruben play, he needs to do more than run in circles and take long distance shots. Barca’s offense is no joke.

Should we start running in circles after their offense, the game will be over in a matter of minutes. If we can apply consistent pressure on their defense, pass the ball around the field and deliver strong tackles and smart defending when they’re in our zone, we’ll do just fine.

What does goal.com think?

Valencia may have had some good results recently, but some of them have owed a great deal to good fortune and it is unlikely that they will be so lucky against a Barcelona team that know the importance of a win in this encounter.

Valencia 1 – 2 Barcelona

Whatever.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’ll be a nerve-wracking 3-2 Valencia victory in front of a boisterous crowd. A Villa goal here, a bumbling Victor Valdes save attempt there and Valencia will send the crowd home happy.

Why not? I’ve seen it before. I see no reason why our lads can’t do it again.

A victory here would be sweet. Should Real Madrid beat Sevilla on Sunday, we’d move into third place. And the title race would heat up, as Madrid would be a mere three points from the leaders with Barca visiting Madrid next weekend.

You want spice? You got it.

C’mon Valencia! Do it!!! AMUNT!

If you’re in the New York City area, join me at Nevada Smith’s for the match at 4pm. If not, sing this song and enjoy the match.