Valencia CF squared off
against Bayer Leverkusen in a Champions League group stage match. It was a game
of two halves for Valencia, one which saw them lose three precious points in a
group in which they can no longer afford to keep dropping points. The game ended with a deserved 2-1 loss in Leverkusen so Unai Emery will have to look at his motivational
skills and find a way to spur on his players accordingly. During the course of the season Valencia’s second halves have looked
weaker than their firsts and it’s starting to really cost them.
Valencia
started the game very brightly. They imposed themselves in possession, really
pressing hard and passing Leverkusen to pieces. They looked like the same team,
if not better, than the one that drew with Barcelona a month ago. Within the first twenty minutes both Pablo
Hernandez and Roberto Soldado would have golden opportunities to score, but
would fail to hit the mark. Valencia’s set pieces in the first half were causing problems for
Leverkusen, and Pablo Hernandez and Roberto Soldado
had seperate chances to slam home some goals from corner opportunities, but the sea of legs in
front of them kept the score level. In the 24th minute, Valencia would grab their goal with an excellent counter
attack starting out of the back with Diego Alves, who picked a golden pass to Jeremy
Mathieu, who headed the ball to a Roberto Soldado, who combed the ball back to
Mathieu who then
clipped the ball away to Soldado, who then sent in a wonderful cross
with the outside of his right foot, to Jonas Gonçalves taking easy tap in for the 1-0. Valencia would have
another opportunity to score when,
again, Jonas had a curling effort from just outside the area, but goaltender Leno was up to the challenge of making the stop.
Valencia dominated
the match until the 30 minute mark. Andre Schurrle had a magnificent shot from
far outside the area that dipped wonderfully
toward Diego Alves’ net but
the Brazilian keeper was on his toes and tipped the wonder shot
over the crossbar. The resulting corner brought another great save out of
Alves, brought a rebound to Kiessling, but the German international pushed
the ball wide with his knee.
photo:valenciafc.es
The
second half started the way the first ended. Leverkusen made a change at
halftime, taking out the struggling Rienartz and replacing him with the two
time World Cup runner up Friedrich in defense. The change was extremely effective and Valencia could not find the superiority then
enjoyed in the first half.
The Valencia players looked generally uninterested in playing hard and finding
that second goal, and were content to sit back and defend against Leverkusen.
Eventually, Leverkusen’s pressure was too much for the
Spaniards, and in the 52nd minute got their equalizer. From
then on Leverkusen looked more likely to score their third than Valencia their
second, until the 70th minute when Valencia rallied to try and even
the match but Leno was equal to
all of Valencia’s attempts and the Spaniards could not equal the score.
Valencia
have only themselves to blame for losing this match with 14 shots in the first half, and four on target.
Those four shots on target should have been converted for goals, and even some
of the deflected shots should have found the net. Poor finishing and
complacency killed Valencia in this match, and maybe even their Champions
League hopes. Unai Emery will have to do some real work on the team’s work rate
and concentration, because performances like these cannot be repeated,
especially since Valencia have shown, in the first half of this match alone,
that they are capable of so much more.
Man of the
Match: Ever Banega was one of the few players
who kept their performance
at a respectable level the whole match. He wasn’t at his best, but then
again
you wouldn’t know it even if he was, he had no support.
Lineups
Valencia CF: Diego
Alves; Miguel Brito, Adil Rami, Victor Ruiz, Jordi Alba (Sergio Canales 65th
min); David Albelda (Aritz Aduriz 82nd min), Ever Banega, Pablo Hernández
(Sofiane Feghouli 65th min), Jeremy Matthieu; Roberto Soldado, Jonas Gonçalves
Bayer
Leverkusen: Leno; Castro, Toprak, Reinartz (Friedrich 46th
min), Kadlec; Rolfes, Bender; Ballack; Sam (Schwaab 90th min),
Schürrle; Kiessling (Derdiyok 80th min).
Goals:
0-1 Jonas 24th min; 1-1 Schurrle 52nd min;
2-1 Sam 56th min
David Wall and His Player
Ratings
GK-Diego Alves: 6.6- both goals he let in weren’t his fault, they
were immaculate shots that no keeper in the world would have saved.
DR-Miguel: 5.9- decent defensively, but offered nothing going
forward. He got into a lot of good positions but did nothing with the ball
DC- Victor Ruiz: 6.3- below average performance from the
youngster, considering the high standards he’s set this season.
DC-Adil Rami: 6.7- one of the few players who played all 90
minutes as best he could. He helped keep the score respectable and was always
alert defensively. He may have been lucky to not be carded for a foul on Sam
though
DL-Jordi Alba: 5.8- did really well in the first 30 minutes, but
he faded worse than most of the other players, becoming completely invisible
after that point, both offensively and defensively.
CDM-David Albelda: 5.5- again good first 30 min, but he faded
fast. Slow and reckless, he couldn’t pass well or assert himself in midfield. Topal’s
fitness may have been in question, but I wonder if he had played if the
midfield would’ve been more stable.
CM-Ever Banega: 7.0- solid performance from the argentine this
game. He distributed well the entire game, but he did fade as the match went
on. To be fair to him though, he couldn’t do all the midfield work himself.
CM-Sergio Canales: 6.6- injected some life into the attack, but
didn’t generate anything major.
LW/DL-Jeremy Mathieu: 6.6- played well in both positions, but his
stamina problems are still pretty obvious. He stopped attacking towards the end
of the match when he was moved to defense, but he did shore up the left back
position.
RW-Pablo Hernandez: 6.0- had some flair, but faded (like most of
all the Valencia players). He became invisible by the time he got subbed out
RW-Sophiane Feghouli: 6.3- lots of energy, but almost no output.
His heart is in the right place he just needs to get his head up more.
2nd ST- Jonas: 6.5- Had some good shots in the first 30
minutes, got the first goal, and kept looking for a second, but he just
couldn’t make it happen.
ST- Roberto Soldado: 5.5- Easily Soldado’s worst performance of
the season. He did nothing with the ball and continued to miss easy
opportunities. He needs to really get his head up and start scoring again.
ST- Aritz Aduriz: 6.0- Worked hard, moved well, but produced
nothing.
written by David Wall
edited by Matt Tobin
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