Full coverage of the La Liga clash between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF at the Mestalla on Saturday evening
FC Barcelona travel to the Mestalla tomorrow looking to extend their run of good form with an eighth successive victory in all competitions, as they prepare to take on Valencia CF in Saturday evening’s prime-time kick-off. Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you might have noticed in the news that Valencia have hired a new manager, former Manchester United star turned pundit, Gary Neville this past week.
Alas, Neville will not be taking charge of tomorrow’s match, he will merely be watching on from the stands, presumably thankful that his reign won’t start against the in-form Blaugrana juggernaut. I mean, we’ve seen how even the more experienced managers are struggling to contend with Luis Enrique’s side at present; can you imagine how a manager with no previous experience would approach this game?
Instead, the job will fall to interim boss, Voro, who after guided Los Che to a midweek Copa del Rey win over Barakaldo, has the unenviable task of now plotting to stop the fearsome Barcelona triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. If recent performances are anything to go by, that might actually be impossible – so instead, Valencia might have to try their luck at outscoring them instead.
Yeah. I’m struggling to envisage a way in which this match ends well for them really.
Maybe that’s just me being naïve as a die-hard Culé; my team is playing well so I see them as this unbeatable force that cannot be stopped – although honestly, that seems to be the reality at the moment. Heck, we beat Real Madrid so badly that they’ve now lost track of the rules of the game – that has to count for something, right?
Roma got obliterated so badly that they’ve gone on a slide domestically, while poor Real Sociedad might yet go on to struggle under Eusebio Sacristan following their beating last weekend. Basically, everyone who crosses paths with us at the moment suffers a fair amount of bad fortune; will Valencia be the latest, or might the mere presence of Gary Neville inspire a positive result?
TEAM NEWS
BARCELONA
With the match falling tomorrow evening, Luis Enrique named his squad for the trip to Valencia today, without much in the way of surprises. The injured Jeremy Mathieu, Sergi Roberto, and of course long-term absentees, Rafinha Alcantara and Douglas all miss out; however Marc-Andre ter Stegen has recovered from his knee injury to make the squad. Similarly, there is good news in the form of Sergi Samper remaining with the team, rather than returning to the B team after his appearance in midweek.
What that means in practice, is that Barcelona are likely to start with a strong line-up – arguably their "gala XI" for this trip. Claudio Bravo will start in goal, and he will be aiming to register his fifth successive clean sheet, following shut-outs against Getafe CF, Villarreal CF, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad. In that period, Barcelona have scored 13 goals without reply; only adding to their current air of invincibility.
In defense, Dani Alves will continue at right-back after an incredible performance against Real Sociedad was followed by a brilliant goal in midweek against Villanovense; it’s likely he will be joined in the backline by Gerard Pique, who presumably has recovered from the hysteric laughter caused by Real’s troubles in midweek. My money is on Javier Mascherano joining him in the centre of defense, although Marc Bartra and Thimas Vermaelen could just as easily slot into the remaining place, particularly as Jordi Alba has the left-flank well covered.
In midfield, the continued absence of Sergi Roberto will prompt Luis Enrique to start with Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta again—but it’s not like that’s any kind of burden for our Asturian head coach. Likewise, there’s no mystery regarding the frontline – they pick themselves, and now we can be more comfortable knowing that Munir and Sandro have both found a bit of form, following their multi-goal performances against Villanovense.
VALENCIA
Gary Neville has claimed the headlines, and surely will do a decent jon in charge at the Mestalla, although in truth, any manager would likely improve upon Nuno’s showings this season. Los Che have just been far too inconsistent this season and while they’re only five points off a UEFA Champions League qualification place, their current standing in ninth place is well below their desired objective.
Following the investments made by Peter Lim, they were anticipating fourth place at a minimum, and surely harboured hopes of challenging Atletico Madrid, and even Real and Barca for a place in the top three. For various reasons, this challenge has not materialised – although that certainly isn’t because of the efforts of Paco Alcacer, who has been in breakout form up top, earning a Spanish starting spot for his troubles.
Diego Alves’ absence has been a factor, but to blame all their troubles on injuries would be to miss the point; they just haven’t been good enough on a regular basis.
That said, on their day they can be fantastic; try a 1-5 win at Balaidos against Celta Vigo for example – if that Valencia shows up tomorrow, then you know we’ll have a game on our hands – but at this stage, it just seems unlikely.
FORM GUIDE
Barcelona: WWWWWW
Valencia: LWDLLW
LAST MEETING
FC Barcelona 2-0 Valencia CF – 18th April 2015 – La Liga
For a moment, I couldn’t remember our last match against Valencia, then upon checking the score realised that I was actually in attendance that night! Luis Suarez opened the scoring with the first attack of the game, before Lionel Messi wrapped up the three points with the last kick of the game in an otherwise challenging and entertaining affair.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Valencia (4-2-3-1): Jaume; Vezo, Abdennour, Santos, Gaya; Perez, Parejo; Bakkali, Piatti, Mina; Alcacer
MATCH PREDICTION
I’ve never really seen an easy trip to the Mestalla, so I’m going with a 3-1 Blaugrana win, with the last goal coming late.
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