Valencia vs Racing Santander Match Preview
Saturday will be the Day of the Giants, as Barcelona, Valencia and Real Madrid will have the chance to crush a minor rival at the comfort of their own stadium. FC Valencia's scheme changed dramatically during the summer, but Ever Banega's outstanding present (a pillar of Argentina's post-Maradona strategy) and Joaquin Sanchez provides a versatility on the midfield that outwits most of the rivals, and the first triumph boosted the confidence of the players to the skies. Valencia's manager should hammer the iron while it's still hot and deploy the whole artillery at the Mestalla to receive the Racinguista squad. "You'll regret if you hurry on judging yourself as a candidate" were team's legendary defender Juan Mata words regarding this match, and the coach should give his thoughts some serious thinking to better frame the present. Jeremy Mathieu y David Navarro will be missing this match due to physical distress. Watch out for Roberto Soldado, who should be fully fit to make his debut as Valencia's deadliest soldier.
Santander's Racing has failed on celebrating a victory on the first round and their performance during the last friendly matches was shadowed by the lack of ideas and security against FC Barcelona. Mohammed Tchité's departure made some room for two reinforcements, Waldo Ponce and Markus Rosenberg. The Swedish will join Argentina's Ariel Nahuelpán in the offense, and they will most surely play a decisive role on this week's trip to Valencia. Miguel Angel Portugal might have his head full of clouds prior to this match, as the confidence of the players will suffer a great impact upon another defeat. Racing's goalkeeper Toño showed many signs of insecurity during the last match, and without some serious work the Santander squad will have serious problems to keep Valencia under close watch.
Valencia vs Racing Santander Match Report
Unai Emery's boys have obtained a second consecutive victories and the Ches -maybe without merits - have joined Atletico at the first position. Inaccuracies on both sides made out for a rather boring game, with a first half that will soon be forgotten and the winning goal was only scored at the 47th minute by Netherlands' Maduro. Ever Banega's injury weakened the midfield, and Joaquin could not lead the whole offense on his own. Vicente could hardly find his place on the left wing, and Jeremy Matheiu's substitution did not change the perspective of the game.
Miguel Portugal's boys could not maintain their strengths during the second half after the first goal. Ariel Nahuelpan was exhausted by running and assisting on the defense, for Markus Rosenberg was unable to pose a real threat to Valencia's defense. Alexandros Tziolis had the clearest shot to even the score, but Cesar Sanchez reacted quickly and secured the game. Racings sinks at the bottom while Valencia earned three decisive points to keep up with the race.
