The Match
Valencia are currently enduring a very sticky start to their league campaign. Three losses out of four means that, much like Swans fans were hoping for a positive EL result against Petrolul to help boost the squad's confidence, they'll be looking to put on a show against a side most Spanish fans would expect them to beat. With the squad hovering just above the La Liga relegation zone they'll be hoping for a win which would provide some much needed confidence ahead of their next league match - against Villareal on Sunday.
Swansea, on the other hand, will have drawn a lot of confidence from the Liverpool game and any nagging doubts about how we'll be able to compete against top teams seem to have been negated for now. They showed enough in both attack and defence to suggest we can trouble any side on our day, and with Valencia low on both form and confidence, plus having the tags of "clear favourites", it's likely the Swans will be able to play with more confidence and freedom than their hosts, who will have a huge weight of expectation placed on them by the home crowd.
Prior Form (Most recent at top)
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Team News
Valencia are, if the internet is to be believed, able to pick from a fully fit squad. Alright for some!
Swansea will be without Pablo Hernandez, who will no doubt be miffed to miss out on the chance to run out against a club he spent eight years at over two separate spells. The winger picked up a hamstring injury which looks set to keep him out until after the Palace game. Neil Taylor is still suffering with a bruised thigh, while I've heard rumours Jose Canas may be unavailable. Nathan Dyer was withdrawn at half time against Liverpool but it's unclear whether that was injury-related or purely tactical. Leon Britton is suspended due to his red card in the last round at Petrolul.
Completely guessed lineups
Sadly the lack of a squad predictor thingy means there'll be no pretty graphics for Europa League predicted lineups...
Statistics & Trivia
- Valencia actually made it to the First Knockout Round of last season's Champions League before being beaten by Paris Saint-Germain, but qualified for this season's EL after finishing 5th in La Liga.
- This will be the first ever match between the two sides, and also the Swans' first against Spanish opposition.
- In the 93/94 season, Laudrup's Barcelona won the league courtesy of Valencia coach Miroslav Djukic's penalty miss in the last minute of Deportivo La Coruna's last game that year.
- Djukic previously spent six years at Valencia as a sweeper, winning La Liga and reaching two Champions League finals during his time at the club.
- Swansea haven't won away in Europe since the 82/83 season, when we beat Maltese opponents Silema Wanderers.
- In matches between Spanish and Welsh opposition, the Spaniards have so far come out on top with 4 wins, 3 draws and only one loss (Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Cardiff in the 70/71 Cup Winners Cup, but overturned the deficit in the second leg).
- Swansea have won just two of their last 14 away games.
Straight from the horse's mouth
Speaking after the Liverpool game, Michael Laudrup ramped up the pressure on Valencia:
“All of the pressure is on Valencia. They have not had a good start to the season and they have a tough game against Sevilla coming up at the weekend. Their crowd are not like our fans - It’s like the theatre over there. They come in to the stadium, sit down and, if the team play well, they applaud, but if the team do not play well, they boo.
“Valencia have been one of the top clubs in Spain for a number of years and the fans will feel they are nearly the same as Real Madrid or Barcelona — they are used to playing in the Champions League, but now they play Swansea in the Europa League, so there is a lot of pressure on them. We have to try to take advantage of that.
"They are the favourites. They are the top seeds in the group, but we will go there and try to play our game. We have had a tough start to the season and a game against Valencia is another difficult one for us, but we can come through this.” Michael Laudrup
Valencia midfielder Andres Guardado acknowledged recent performances haven't been up to scratch:
"We need to get our act together and come out with attitude. The most important thing right now is to win the next match against Swansea." Andrew Guardado
Speaking to Skysports News, Swansea's adopted son Angel Rangel is looking forward to showing Spain what the Swans are all about:
"It's always great to go back. Hopefully we will be able to show a big side like Valencia and the whole of Spain how good we are as a team.
"It's one of those games where we know we aren't the favourites and away from home it's a difficult game, but we're looking forward to it. We know that the Mestalla is a tough place to go and we know that Spanish style of football is always to try and play the ball, combined with attacking intent. We know we will find that on Thursday night.
"Valencia like to press high, they don't give much time to the opposition to play the ball, and they are an opponent that will be a difficult game. We have to be at our best, but we're really excited and we know that with the draw we got with Liverpool on Monday we can be confident on Thursday and try to do a good job again." Angel Rangel
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11731/8928000?
Last time out
I thought I'd put in some highlights of Valencia's last match, against Real Betis. Bearing in mind Betis lost Jose Canas and his midfield partner Benat over the close season, it doesn't seem to have affected them too much as they, if highlights are to be believed, walked all over Valencia. Let's hope we get a similar performance from Los Murcielagos, as they really didn't look up to much judging by this video...
Analysis
I'll be honest, while I know a bit more about Valencia than I did about either of our previous EL opponents, it would very much be a creative writing exercise if I embarked on an in-depth tactical preview, but what do we know?
After a poor start to the season, there really will be a lot of expectation on the home team, and that's liable to influence how the play. Normally in a game like this you'd expect a Spanish team on home soil to look to retain possession and "suss us out" before prying for openings, but with a crowd baying for an upturn in form they'll likely fly out of the blocks and look to press us high up the field.
Laudrup will be more than aware of this, and it's probable we're going to look to keep things tight early on and try to hit Valencia with fast counter-attacks. Up front for Valencia we'll have Helder Postiga to deal with - I'd be lying if I said that worried me massively as, despite occasionally impressing, I've never really seen much in the ex-Spurs striker.
The only other player I know anything about is Ever Banega, who'll captain the side. I have a soft spot for him after signing him as a 16 year old on "Championship Manager" back in the day, and have kept an eye on his career since. He's developed more or less as the computer game predicted, in fairness, and is a tasty defensive midfielder who has a very good first touch, as well as a predilection for a big tackle. He is Argentinian, so you'd expect that, but what you wouldn't expect is he spent a large spell on the sidelines after being run over by his own car after failing to put the handbrake on at a petrol station. He'd only just returned from a knee injury, and that incident saw him miss the remainder of the season. He is a current Argentinian international though, so despite any foolhardy injuries it'd be unwise to take him too lightly.
As for the rest of the team, I probably know as much as you do so it's pointless hypothesising too much. I honestly fancy us to get a result here though, as Valencia have a massive amount of pressure on them. If we can keep them out for 20 minutes then, as Laudrup hinted at, the catcalls from the stands will start and we should start to see things unravel at the seams, which should lead to more opportunities for the Swans attacking players.
I'm going to predict a score draw, but in all honesty I am quite confident about this for no reason in particular. Swansea's first away win in Europe in 31 years? Go on then...
What're your predictions? Get involved in the comment section below or by clicking the link to the forum at the top of the site!
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