Valencia - Barcelona: Preview (Saturday, 4pm EST)

By: Isaiah | December 14th, 2007

Saturday’s matchup at the Mestalla is not just between two heavyweight contenders in the La Liga title chase, but also between The Offside crew. Cesar over at the Valencia Offside has vowed that his team will come roaring back, echoing Cañizares’ thoughts on the matter. The problem is that the remedy to being booted from the Champions League in last place of their group is supposed to come against a resurgent Barcelona team who just got back two huge pieces of their puzzle from long-term injury and two major pieces from short-term illness. Eto’o, Deco, Toure, and Abidal are all mended and ready to roar, which means look out!

David Villa and Raul Albiol will miss out for Valencia, while Hildebrand and Joaquin are serious doubts. That could be devastating to a team looking to find its way out of the doldrums that Valencia finds itself in. Five games in a row without a goal (3 Liga, 2 CL) and the most recent home game an 0-3 loss to Athletic Bilbao doesn’t really inspire much confidence, but it’s still Valencia at the Mestalla. I know that fans will be there in force to scream their team towards victory and Barcelona will have to be at the top of their game to get away with all 3 points.

It’s an away match, which causes some concern for any Barca fan who’s been paying attention over the last year and a half, but the team has shown a strong will the last couple of games, including some hard noses in the 1-1 draw against Espanyol they should have won. So that’s good and it means we’ll probably do better in this away match than normal. One reason is because I don’t expect Koeman to ask his squad to camp in their own box and absorb pressure. He’ll need goals to keep the fans happy and that means pressing up the field, leaving the back exposed to a man sometimes just known to me as GOOOOL SAMUUUUU! With Ronaldinho back to playing startlingly good ball against Stuttgart, if he’s afford the same space, say goodnight.

Messi is back in the squad as well and should be truly rested for a good go at the defense, especially with no midweek game to prepare for. Just something on Saturday a week from tomorrow. Not sure, exactly, what that is, but let’s forget about it until tomorrow at 6pm when the Valencia game is done.

Los Che will be looking for Barca to be concentrating on other, future games in order to take full advantage, but I don’t think they will, really. Let’s look at stats, though, to see if there are any glaring opportunities for either side:

Barca enter with an away record of 1W-4D-2L, scoring 7 goals and conceding 8. Of those 7, 4 were scored in the game at Levante, while of the ones allowed, 5 were scored in the losses to Villarreal and Getafe (3-1, 2-0). However, despite it looking as if Barcelona are not dangerous, they have been oh-so-dangerously close to scoring that it’s impossible to say they’ve failed to actually score for lack of trying.

Valencia’s home record is spotty too, with a 3W-0D-4L with 9 goals scored and 15 allowed. So what happens when an offense that can’t score meets a defense that can’t stop a shot? My guess is that the defense caves and the offense sparks to life. Valencia will always be dangerous, but this is the time to win the Mestalla, when they’re reeling and have injury issues. I am not happy that Villa and Albiol are out and that Joaquin is not 100% healthy, but I’ll take it.

The squad: Valdés, Jorquera, Puyol, Márquez, Abidal, Zambrotta, Sylvinho, Milito, Xavi, Iniesta, Touré, Gudjohnsen, Deco, Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Bojan, Giovani, Messi.

The lineup I’d like to see:
Valdés
Zambrotta, Puyol, Milito, Abidal
Touré Xavi
Messi, Deco, Ronaldinho
Eto’o

Despite Iniesta’s obvious abilities, I think that he should make way for Deco at this moment, because we need to be able to get something going down the middle. If Valencia are willing to give up defense for offense, let’s take advantage of that with a quick, smart passer like Deco who can also shoot. Iniesta doesn’t really drive the ball in from range and I think that makes a different at this point. And it means he can come on as a sub if Deco isn’t meshing well. As long as we don’t give up an early goal again, I think the team will be able to get out with a victory. And trust me, Puyol will slice someone’s legs off instead of letting them waltz in on goal before 20 minutes are gone.

Messi and Eto’o haven’t proven to be a great combo yet, but I think they’ll link up mightily with Deco backing them up. The 1-2-3 playing that Deco allows is second to almost no one on earth and I’m excited to see him slipping balls through any offside trap attempts Valencia throw Barca’s way.

The thing to remember, though, is that backing a wounded tiger into a corner is really, really retarded. So watch out, boys! Danger Will Robinson! Aguas, carnales! And other such warning devices. Valencia will either not show up at all or come out guns blazing.

Let’s hear what you all have to say before this match begins. I’ll post starting lineups and my halftime comments below.