Broke Bat Mountain

Get it? They can’t pay their players, their crest is adorned by a bat, and they are a massive obstacle standing in the way of Dynamo’s European ambitions. It has nothing to do with the football world’s collective man-crush on David Villa, I swear. I will admit, on talent alone Valencia is a pretty attractive team. But they should not expect a warm welcome in Kiev on Wednesday*. Besides the sub zero temperature waiting for them will be a Dynamo squad fed up with sparring matches. And Yuri Semin’s players realize that a victory is necessary to position themselves for advancement in the UEFA Cup and set the tone for the second half of the UPL season.

Though not celebrated to the same degree as those other two clubs in Spain, Valencia is a fixture in the La Liga top four. From their annual forays into Europe they have come away with with two trophies of the smaller variety, same as Dynamo. Valencia last lifted the UEFA Cup in 2004 when they beat Didier Drogba’s Marseilles 2-0 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Rafael Benitez was in charge at the time and the opener was scored by Vicente. Benitez moved on to winning trophies elsewhere, but Vicente, along with the core of that side, could be on current boss Unai Emery’s team sheet tomorrow.

It remains to be seen how serious Valencia is about the UEFA Cup this year. The club is going through financial troubles and the players have not been paid in a month. The situation on the pitch is hardly better, with one win from their last six and a tenuous grip on fourth place in the league. With several players reportedly eying the exits, holding on to the final Champions League spot probably takes precedence over the UEFA Cup. I believe Emery is unlikely to risk his key players in a hard match in Ukraine in February.

Valencia’s strength is undoubtedly its firepower. They tend to attack with just the front four, with the central midfielders and the fullbacks staying home. The quality is undeniable: Silva and Vicente up front with Joaquin, Juan Mata, and the fit again David Silva manning the wings will challenge any defense. However Villa, Silva and Joaquin played 90 minutes on Saturday and so far have just one UEFA Cup start between them. Fernando Morientes and Angulo are more likely to start on Tuesday along with Vicente and Mata. Morientes poses an entirely different set of problems than Villa. His chief asset is size and Dynamo will have to minimize Valencia’s set piece opportunities. The key player for Valencia in this alignment would be Mata. He is a born playmaker and would have a definite edge over makeshift right back Andriy Nesmachniy on the left wing. In order to take the 20 year old Mata out of the game Dynamo will have to bracket him with midfielders and involve him in a physical battle that he wants no part of. Combine that with preventing Vicente from sneaking behind our center backs and Dynamo could keep Valencia off the scoreboard.

In Valencia’s last match their defensive vulnerabilities were on full display. Malaga repeatedly played their forwards in behind the back line with simple balls out of the midfield. The aging central foursome of Carlos Marchena, Raul Albiol, David Albelda and Ruben Baraja have all the mobility of trees in a forest, and if they feature on Tuesday Dynamo should be able to exploit their lack of pace. All four have a tendency to pick up bookings. Early yellow cards would take away their preferred option of stopping attacks with fouls and leave them to rely on the “arm in the air” defensive tactic. Emery would be smart to go with Manuel Fernandes in one of the holding spots, but even then the advantage should be with Dynamo. I envision Roman Eremenko marauding up the flanks and creating havoc the entire match. In their attempts to stay goalside the Valencia defenders tend to give their opponents too much space, and Serhiy Kravchenko and the rest of the Dynamo midfield will be able to shoot from distance at will. The potency of the Valencia counter will dictate how many attackers Dynamo push forward, but there are goals to be had in this match and our midfield is hungry.

Playing the first leg at home is an opportunity for a team to put down a marker and invite their opponents to match it. Dynamo needs to take a two goal lead into the Mestalla if they are to feel confident about their chances of advancing. It is hard to gauge how a team will come out after a prolonged winter break, but there will be no shortage of motivation. Having a proven manager like Semin is a huge asset in these situations, and despite the injuries and the absence of Oleksandr Aliyev through suspension Dynamo should have enough ammunition to earn a result. Prediction: Ognjen Vukojevic dominates the center of the pitch, the goals come from Artem Milevskiy, Eremenko, Kravchenko and Vicente, and Marchena gets sent off. Dynamo 3 – 1 Valencia.

* Pro tip: always double check the calendar.

Category: UEFA Cup 2008/2009

Tags: Andriy Nesmachniy, Angulo, Artem Milevskiy, Carlos Marchena, Champions League, David Albelda, David Villa, Didier Drogba, Dynamo Kyiv Dinamo Kiev, Fernando Morientes, Joaquin, Juan Mata, La Liga, Manuel Fernandes, Marseilles, Málaga, Ognjen Vukojevic, Oleksandr Aliyev, Rafael Benitez, Raul Albiol, Roman Eremenko, Ruben Baraja, Serhiy Kravchenko, UEFA Cup 2008/2009, Ukrainian Premier League, Unai Emery, Valencia, Vicente, Yuri Semin

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share