Valencia will face Villarreal at Estadio de Mestalla, in Valencia, in the Europa League Quarter-Finals second leg. Valencia against Villarreal is always the match with big interest, especially during this season. Both strong and talented squads will play for Semi-Final of second biggest European Tournament. Review our thoughts on this match here below.
Valencia
Valencia made a very good job to be among 6 best clubs in Spain. They have only 3 points difference with 4th place Sevilla and are able to fight for Champions League promotion. Valencia is the 3rd team in La Liga with Barcelona and Atletico, which lost only once at home this season. Moreover, they are showing almost the best result by the defense while playing at Estadio de Mestalla, since they conceded only 10 goals in 17 matches. In general, they are still participating in 3 different competitions. Valencia will face Barcelona in the final of Copa del Rey.
Unfortunately, G. Kondogbia will miss the next match due to injury. All other main squad players are fit and ready to play an important game against Villareal. Valencianistes playing strong at counter attacks, attacking set pieces and creating scoring chances. However, they are facing troubles at finishing scoring chances and defending against skillful players.
Villarreal
Villarreal right now is at the edge of relegation. They have only 2 points difference with the 18th team in LaLiga. Fortunately, they won a very important match against Girona and took 3 points. Staying in LaLiga should be the goal of the season, so UEFA Europa League is the secondary target, especially after losing to Valencia at Estadio de la Ceramica. In general, Villarreal has a bad season if we talking about Spain and even Santi Cazorla can not help the team as the team would like.
Unfortunately, J. Costa, A. Gonzalez Soberon and M. J. Llambrich will miss the match due to injuries. In addition, D. Bonera, Bruno and J. Fuedo are still under question. The Yellow Submarine are strong this season creating long shot opportunities, creating chances through individual skill and counter attacks. However, they have weaknesses at defending against skillful players, defending set pieces and stopping opponents from creating chances.
Europa League Quarter-Finals first leg
Valencia won the first match with 3:1 result at Estadio de la Ceramica, in Villarreal. Possession was under Villareal’s control and they had more chances, but we know how strong Valencia could play in defense, so it is not surprising that the hosts scored only one goal. The Yellow Submarine this season have big troubles in defense, and we saw the consequences of a bad game in the last match.
Article image is taken from https://as.com/futbol/2019/01/26/videos/1548538550_226263.html