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Valencia’s Championship Credentials will be put to the Test by Sevilla

Samrin Hasib, September 22 2011,
Valencia currently occupies the top spot in La Liga under Real Betis takes to the pitch. Many expected them to have problems after the departure of Juan Mata.
Guaita made a few great stops for Valencia against Barca.
Guaita made a few great stops for Valencia against Barca.
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Valencia is in plenty of debt. The dream of a new stadium with 75,000 seats was put to a hold by the financial crisis. The initial idea was to sell the Mestalla and to pay for the new stadium with that money. Due to the crisis, nobody was willing to purchase the Mestalla. Valencia then became a selling club. They had to sell to stay afloat.

Consequently, David Villa and David Silva went out the door. Then went Juan Mata. Luckily for the club, they have a smart manager in Unai Emery. Emery has been in charge of the team since 2008. He has made all the right moves to keep the club together and make sure they finish consistently in the Champions League spots.

Valencia was sixteen minutes away from recording their fourth straight win in La Liga. Cesc Fabregas unfortunately spoiled the party. Valencia must have rued the misses by Roberto Soldado in both halves. Barca must have rued misses by Messi and Fabregas in the second half. In the end, the match was indeed a game of two halves and the outcome was a satisfying one.

Valencia oozes quality in attack. Their defence is good enough to shut out quite a few teams. The likes of Pablo Hernandez and Roberto Soldado might not be household names in the football world such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, both players are magnificent and possess plenty of talent. The Argentine Ever Banega, Jeremy Mathieu, captain David Albelda and Pablo Piatti are part of a very talented squad.

Valencia is unbeaten so far this season. Their next opponents, Sevilla, has also not tasted defeat as of yet. With two wins and two draws so far, they sit fifth in the table behind Barcelona on goal difference. They are two points behind Valencia. Sevilla, as we all know, can play extremely well on their day. They are not participating in Europe this year. They were knocked out of the Europa League qualifiers by Germans Hanover 96.

For Valencia, the debt will continue to mount until the construction of the new arena finishes. The Nou Mestalla is incomplete. Due to aforementioned financial problems, the construction is not continuing at the moment. When work resumes, the stadium will roughly take another fourteen months to be complete.

Valencia is surviving purely on the back of their excellent consistency in La Liga. The money coming in from the Champions League is definitely helping their cause as well. One hopes that this team overcomes its financial problems soon and gets rid of all the debt. For now, the neutral fans of La Liga will be hoping that they break the Madrid-Barca stranglehold on the title.

Valencia last won the title in 2004 under Rafa Benitez. After four matches, the talks of another title seem premature. Valencia’s fixture list isn’t easy. Sevilla will be hard to beat. They have overcome two tough sides in Racing and Atletico Madrid. They have beaten Sporting as well.

If Valencia wins this game, their confidence should continue to grow. Their fans will be desperately hoping that their team holds everything together and breaks the duopoly of Barca and Madrid. It will be difficult- however, with a little bit of luck and with the resolve they showed last night, they might be able to pull it off.

Sevilla vs Valencia

Date: Saturday, 24 Sep 2011
Time: 12:00 ( US/Eastern )
Competition: Spain La Liga
Live/Repeat: Live
Venue: Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán (Sevilla)

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