Valencia CF interested in Abdelaziz Barrada

Valencia CF is interested in young 23 years old Abdelaziz Barrada, sometimes known as just Abdel, is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays for Getafe CF in Spain, as a central midfielder.

Valencia CF sporting director Braulio Vazquez is looking for one more midfield addition and seems Abdelaziz Barrada as the perfect replacement for Tino Costa who is looking more and more likely will leave Valencia CF in the summer and move to France.

Abdelaziz Barrada can play as a central and attacking midfield, though is good defensively as well, so he can pretty much play at all of the positions in midfield, but he is mostly attack minded and would benefit from a defensive minded midfielder.

Valencia CF 3-0 Real Betis Player Ratings

Diego 6 - Standard match by Diego Alves who more and more seems like the more secure and better option for the goalkeeping spot. Didn't have too much to do, but in the few situations when he was called in he did good.
Joao 6 - Standard display form Joao who was secure at the back and forward to a great extent, though didn't have the penetration he usually has.
Rami 6 - Good game by Rami who seemed fit and capable, winning few tackles.
Mathieu 5.5 - Improved performance by Mathieu in the center of defense, though still lacks good positioning.
Guardado 6 - Went forward to a great extent supporting Jonas and often times acting as a winger, providing much needed width on the left wing.
Parejo 5.5 - Seemed ineffective and a bit tired maybe, opting for simple passes and to avid the ball as much as possible.
Tino Costa 5.5 - Similar play as Parejo, though a little bit more energetic and covered more space.
Feghouli 6 - Decent match by Feghouli, but once again nothing major or game breaking. Run a lot and tried to do stuff, but wasn't very effective.
Banega 5.5 - Run quite a bit and had falir when on the ball, making some interesting passes, but nothing key.
Jonas 6.5 - Had a great game once again and has been founding the back of the net a lot more often, played some important passes and was a good asset.
Soldado 6 - Did what he was supposed to do and scored a perfect penalty goal, which he was the creator of after being brought down in the penalty area.
Subs:
Valdez 5.5 - Did well for the time he had on the field, but nothing to talk home about.
Canales N/A - Helped create the last goal with a weird pass-shot, though it was an accident and didn't contribute much more.
Cissokho N/A - Not enough time

Valencia CF 2-2 UD Levante Match Report

17th minute a goal for Levante through Iborra who scored with a header, Guaita reacting poorly and failing to save in what should have been a normal casual save.
24th minute Guaita makes amends for his previous failing by saving from a long range shot by Barkero.
Just two minutes later Jonas scores after a chaotic scene in Levante's penalty area in which Jonas managed to get to the ball and just barely shoot it into the net to equalize the score at 1-1.

48th minute Soldado scores an amazing goal with a powerful volley on an assist by Feghouli who crossed from the right wing right to Soldado.
In the 63rd minute a wrongful offside decision and Valencia CF was denied a clear goal which would have pretty ended this match, but once again Valencia CF was damaged.

Few minutes later a good one-two play by Jonas and Canales with Jonas receiving the back ball and shoots, but it goes wide and once again Jonas shows how poor his shot is.
In the 70th minute Soldado shoots and unfortunately hits the bars, Levante escapes by the skin once again.

The unwritten rule in football of being punished for your misses comes again to hunt Valencia CF and a mistake by Mathieu allowed Barkero to score, thus equalizing the score at 2-2.

Player Ratings:
Guaita 4.5 - Not a good display for Guaita who made few mistakes and was insecure throughout the match.
Joao 6 - Was a constant menace down the right flank, going forward at every opportunity and did well defensively as well.
Ruiz 5.5 - Not the best showing and would want to do better in order to secure a starting spot.
Mathieu 4.5 - Caught off position few times and contributed to Valencia CF conceding two goals.
Guardado 5.5 - Good defensive showing and had few forward runs, but nothing major.
Feghouli 6 - Has moments of wonder where he will do great, but otherwise was too passive for long periods of time.
Parejo 6.5 - One of the best players on the field, spreading the ball great and being involved in the flow and control of the match.
Albelda 7 - Great showing for the veteran who covered superbly for the leaky defense and found himself supporting the forward players often time, unlike most of his games.
Jonas 7 - He is quite invisible most of the time, but was decisive when he had the ball, scoring the first goal and creating several chances and finding himself in good positions.
Canales 6 - Has lacked the level of creativity since getting back from his long term injury and tonight was no different, with a limited performance.
Soldado 6.5 - Got himself on the score-sheet and was generally a nuisance for the Levante defense.
Subs:
Tino N/A - Not enough time to make an impact
Valdez N/A - Not enough time
Viera N/A - Not enough time

PSG vs Valencia CF Match Preview

PSG vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Stadium: Parc des Princes

Date: 06.03.2013; 20:45 CET

Round 16, fixture 2, Champions League

Coaches:  Carlo Ancelotti and Ernesto Valverde

Paris Saint German

PSG is coming to this match after a 1-0 loss to Remis in the French league, though with a 2-1 lead into this match from the first leg which was played in Valencia at the Mestalla and now they are playing at home with a big advantage. PSG are going to be coming confident into this match that they can go through to the next round of the competition and they would be right to think so, with Valencia CF failing to trouble them even at its own home grounds, while the past two matches in the Spanish league haven't been in their favor as well, dropping 4 points.

PSG coach Carlo Anceloti is a very experienced coach and has lead many clubs in the Champions league throughout his career, so he going to know how to set up the team, though he lost his key player Zlatan Ibrahimovich in the last match against Valencia CF due to him earning a red card, and so his team is weakened by this, so its likely Kevin Gameiro will start, who was a target for Valencia CF two summers ago, but decided to join PSG and since then hasn't featured much at all.

PSG squad: to be announced...

Technical Details PSG FC (probable setups):
Formation: 4-4-2
Line-up: Sirigu; Jallet, Alex, T.Silva, Maxwell; L.Moura, Matuidi, Chantome, Beckham; Lavezzi, Gameiro.
Tactics: Low defensive line, own half pressure, high frequency wing attacks, short passing.

Valencia CF

Valencia CF are also coming to this match after a disappointing match on the weekend in which the team lost the three points in the last minutes of the match due to a slip by Jeremy Mathieu in defense. That and the previous draw means that Valencia CF has hit a weak period, but will be hoping to put the past two disappointing matches behind with a win over PSG.

Valencia Cf coach Ernesto Valverde knows its going to be a tough task to win against PSG, especially at their stadium, but will be hopeful because their main player Ibrahimovich is out for this match and they also have some other important players missing through injury or suspension. Their defense has also been a bit weaker recently and there is little cover for the first eleven.

Valencia CF is coming to this match with a weakened defense as well with Rami and R. Costa both out with injuries and Valverde will once again be forced to play Mathieu as central defender, partnering Ruiz.

Valencia CF squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Vicent Guaita, Felipe Ramos.
Defenders: Joao, Barragán, Víctor Ruiz, Mathieu, Cissokho.
Midfielders: Albelda, Éver, Piatti, Dani Parejo, Tino Costa, Guardado, Feghouli.
Forwards: Jonas, Canales, Valdez, Soldado.

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Diego; Joao, Ruiz, Mathieu, Guardado; Albelda, Parejo, Feghouli; Banega, Jonas; Soldado.
Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, medium frequency wing attacks, mixed passing.

Valencia CF vs Levante UD Match Preview

Valencia CF vs Levante UD Match Preview

Stadium: Mestalla

Date: 02.03.2013; 22:00 CET

26th matchday, La Liga

Coaches: Ernesto Valverde and Juan Ignacio Martínez

Valencia CF is coming to this match after a hard fought draw in the last league match against Real Zaragoza, managing to come back from behind after the team went down 2-0 and manage to secure a very important draw, even though there was a chance to win as well, ultimately 2-2 draw was a good and fair result.

Tonight against UD Levante the team is going to look to get a better result and that means a win, which would enable Valencia CF to escape Levante and few other clubs that are close behind Valencia CF and possibly even reach 4th place, of course if Malaga looses, which as of late they haven't been performing to the best of their ability.

This is a very important match as it is a city derby and both clubs have been fierce rivals, because both are the region Valencia CF and Levante has always been sort of the second club and now with them in the first division for couple of years now and even challenging Valencia CF it has turned into a big rivalry between the  clubs.

Valencia CF is going into this match without Adil Rami and Ricardo Costa who are both injured, although Ricardo Costa is said to be ready for the match against PSG in the champions league. Ever Banega and Aly Cissokho are suspended though due to yellow cards and so after a longer period both Jonathas Viera and Antonio Barragan are joining the squad. 

With the PSG match also just several days away the coach may also want to keep some of the players fresh, so we may see Soldado on the bench and I believe the coach is going to choose Guaita to be on goal, so that Diego plays in the Champions League, since the last match against PSG Guaita was rather poor.

Valencia CF squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves, Vicent Guaita.

Defense:  Joao Pereira, Antonio Barragán, Víctor Ruiz, Jeremy Mathieu.

Midfield: David Albelda, Tino Costa, Daniel Parejo, Jonathan Viera, Sofiane Feghouli, Juan Bernat, Pablo Piatti, Andres Guardado.

Forward:  Jonas Goncalves, Sergio Canales, Nelson Haedo Valdez, Roberto Soldado.

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Line-up: Guaita; Joao, Ruiz, Mathieu, Guardado; Albelda, Tino Costa, Parejo; Piatti, Valdez; Jonas.

Tactics: Medium defensive line, own half pressure, medium frequency wing attacks, mixed passing.

Result prediction:

Valencia CF 3-2 Levante UD

These matches can go either very few goals or a big goal fest and since the last match was rather calm and with little goals, I think this one is going to be with many goals, especially since Valencia CF is missing its key defenders and I believe Valcerde is going to position the team to win this match, so Levante are going to fight back and I see many goals in which Valencia CF will just edge out Levante UD.

Raul Albiol to return to Valencia CF?

Its no secret that Manuel Llorente and for that matter the whole board of Valencia CF would like to see Raul Albiol back at Valencia CF as he is a Valencianista, played for the club for most of his life and has not found a regular starting place at Real Madrid, in fact almost every other player has been preferred over him to start matches.

For Llorente he wants to increase the Spanish and especially Valencian players in the club, as the fans have not been very happy with so few Spanish players and so he is determined to bring Spanish players in the club next summer and Raul Albiol is big part of his plans.

As you know Raul Albiol hasn't featured much in Real Madrid at all and while he wasn't too keep on returning last season to Valencia CF, recently he has given signals that he may be open to coming back to Valencia CF. Valencia CF president Manuel Llorente has talked to his agent numerous times and reports have it that the last time they talked, Albiol's agent told them that he would like to return to Valencia CF.

Of course he has a long term contract with Real Madrid and he is not likely to come cheap. Valencia CF has good relationship with Real Madrid as the club has purchased several players from them in the past few seasons and also sold them Albiol. This means Real Madrid are not going to push for the absolute most they can get and would likely take about 8-10 million for Raul Albiol, of course assuming Raul Albiol would be serious about joining Valencia CF.

With recent reports that Anzhi is interested in Adil Rami and his buyout clause falling significantly next summer Raul Albiol could be a replacement for Adil Rami, assuming Rami doesn't extend his contract with Valencia CF or doesn't want to leave, which would be really hard, especially if some big salary offer comes his way with a lot more richer clubs than Valencia CF.

Beñat Etxebarria to Valencia CF?

Real Betis midfielder Beñat Etxebarria has a contract agreement with them till 2014, but he has refused to extend his contract and will be leaving this summer. Last summer they got several offers of up to 10 million for him, but they rejected them all, but the following summer they will have no option but to look at offers as they don't want to loose him in 2014 for free.

Valencia CF is highly interested in Beñat Etxebarria and has already made contact with his representatives, trying to asses if he would like to join Valencia CF. Reports are that he would be interested in joining Valencia CF and while there hasn't been talks about salary he would be offered around 1.1 million euros, which would be over a million more of what he earns now.

Beñat Etxebarria is 26 years old and is one of Betis key players this season and last. He is a central midfielder the text book one and not a convert from attacking midfielder or defensive one. He has the playmaking skills, passing skills.

According to Spanish sources several clubs are interested in acquiring his services, including few clubs from England, German Wolfsburg is still interested in him and Atletico Madrid from Spain are interested in him as well, so Valencia CF really has tough competition to get him and will likely need to churn out the 10 million to get him.

This would of course mean that Parejo, Tino Costa or even Banega may leave. I don't think its going to be Banega as he has huge talent and can play even better than his recent showings, but one of Tino or Parejo is very likely to leave. First there is the money issue, as Valencia CF would need to get the money and while they are going to get around 10 million for Diego Alves that would only cover say going in for Iago Aspas.