Champions 2018-19: Young Boys vs Valencia: an artificial final
Champions 2018-19TOThose of Marcelino are only worth the victory against the weak Swiss team
Few in Valencia could think when the club returns to the Champions League after an excellent campaign led by Marcelino that in the month of October will be with the water around his neck and playing live in one of the great objectives of the season in the field of the Young Boys. A final of Champions that arrives in a bad moment of game and results.
A final, that alsoit is disputed in an unfavorable terrain and to which it is difficult to adapt. The artificial turf of the Stade de SuisseIt's not good news. Valencia have only played one European game in that area … and I lost it against Red Bull Salzburg in a Champions League preview. Yesterday I worked on the last training on the crash scene and tried to put boots and bodies on point.
The point is thatin Switzerland there is no margin for error. Anything that is not victory will almost definitively distance Valencia from the possibility of reaching the knockout rounds. With a point in the locker, after losing to theJuventusand tie inManchester, not to add the six in game against the weakest team of the group will be a mortal blow to the aspirations to win the place to the United of Mourinho.
The team arrives plagued by doubts. He has only won one game in all we have been in season. It is true that between the League and the Champions League he has only lost two, so the rest of the 11 officials played are draws. The tables against the Legans, with a clear setback in the game, have turned on all the alarms.
For the momentous meeting of SwitzerlandMarcelino has lost his left wing. Guedes and Cheryshev are injured and Gay with discomfort. Must invent and the possibilities are several. Hitting Coquelin that ensures performance, or playing with Wass or Ferran Torres. But it has also been left out of the list to the central boss, Ezequiel Garay.The only good news is that it recovers Kondogbia, that to be titular next to Parejo in the center of the field.
Photo: AFPThe Swiss, after two heavy defeats (3-0 and 0-3) against Juventus and Manchester, come to the match after a start of the season in their overwhelming home league. All victories except one defeat and one draw. In their last match they managed to overcome a 3-1 of the Zurich (second in the table) until reaching the tie and to stay firm as leaders with a lot of advantage in the classification.
Valencia have five consecutive matches without winning in the Champions League. Since that victory with Nuno against Gent in Mestalla the team could not overcome either Gent (1-0), Zenit (2-0), or Lyon (1-2) in Mestalla. This season, after two years preaching in the desert, the start has followed the same pattern with defeat and draw at Old Trafford.