Valencia 2-3 Chelsea

Chelsea vs. Valencia 1:1 FT


Chelsea with the better second half, but not enough to break down the excellent Valencia defence. Will be a tough challenge for Chelsea in the rematch. A very good result for Valencia.

1-1

Ayala classiest defender on the pitch

Valencia in the driving seat then.

Who were the games best players?

Ayala >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Terry

seriously though... any player ratings would be appreciated

Miguel had a stormer as well

But no player (on either side) had a bad game imo. Lampard was a bit quiet though.

Ayala was great for Valencia, but didn't look good when Drogba scored. Valencia played well as a unit, it's difficult to pick out anyone to be honest.

For Chelsea, it was Kalou and Ballack in the first half, Drogba and Carvalho in the second. But none of them very dominant either.

^^ Agreed

TeamSpirit wrote:Ayala >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Terry

I was watching Roma and only flicked over twice (once in each half) - both times when Ayala had taken out Sheva.

Naughty.

Canizares! What has happened to him! Looked so shaky tonight. Ayala was class apart from the goal. Advantage Valencia though. Anybody going to get us started on the player ratings then!?

WHAT A GOAL FROM SILVA!!!!!!! That's one way to announce yourself on the European stage to fans outside Spain who didn't already appreciate his immense talent. This guy is going to become a big player.

Tweedle, Chelsea's goal was a Wimbledon-style goal. A. Cole just hit it forward, Ayala misread the bounce, and Drogba ran onto it and hit a looping header in. Were it not for Ayala's half-mistake and Canizares' poor position, that would not have been a goal.

IMO Valencia are FIRMLY in the driving seat now. A 2-2 draw is possible, but very unlikely for 2 such good defenses to concede 2 goals each. And when was the last time Chelsea beat a decent team away from home in Europe? They've only drawn or lost to us, are impotent against Liverpool, even lost to Bayern 3-2 after beating them 4-2 in the first leg. And they've lost away from home to Werder Bremen this year, Betis last year, etc. So it's Valencia's to lose IMO.

Also. Credit to the Chelsea defence who had Villa in their pocket tonight. Shame they couldn't do the same with Silva . That could have been the key to his success - they were all focused of Villa.

nCfC-CaDiZ wrote:Also. Credit to the Chelsea defence who had Villa in their pocket tonight. Shame they couldn't do the same with Silva . That could have been the key to his success - they were all focused of Villa.

That was Valencia's trick up the sleeve. Everyone talked about Villa so much that they forgot about Silva.

How was Joaquin? I was very surprised to see Quique play both wingers as well as Silva.

I thought Joaquin was decent. He skinned Cole & Terry at one point and was in a position to put in a good cross, but he slipped. Put in some good balls, and Chelsea had to double up on him (as with Vincente) If I was Valencia I'd play the same system.

Well, mixed feelings. In a way, I wouldn't mind going out of the competition to the best goal I have ever seen live. On the other hand, I don't want to go out to a fortunate goal which it was.

For starters, the throw in was ours. I was sitting less than 10 yards away from the incident, and it was clear to see with the naked eye that the throw-in was a Chelsea throw-in. Secondly, Silva gets a nice little riqueshey (sp.) before thumping it home. If he tried that 10 more times, he wouldn't score once imo.

Second half, we got the early goal and after that only one team looked like winning. Frustrating was the fact that we didn't take our chances, but if we play like that at the Mastella, we'll win I promise. For once, we go into an away game needing the win (something we haven't had to do in recent times). If Valencia want to win this tie, they'll either a) have to keep us out for 90 minutes (unlikely imo) or b) improve in attack. Where was this threat from Vincente, Joaquin and Villa that everyone had been telling me? I told you we'd double up on them and not let any of them into the game.

Anyway, ratings:

Cech 6 - Looked very shaky today. Couldn't do anything about the goal.
Diarra 9 - Top class imo. Couple of silly fouls at the end, but he was a threat going forward, and had Vincente in his pocket in defence. Going to be a world class player in the near future.
Carvalho 8 - Seems to have so much time on the ball. Rarely troubled and brought the ball out of defence.
Terry 7 - Had Villa in his pocket.
A Cole 7 - Dealt with Joaquin well and quick thinking got us the goal.
Mikel 8 - Another top performance from this lad. Sat back, kept it simple and allowed us to go forward. Quick and seems to be very aware of potential danger. My only negative was that he gave Silva too much space for the goal.
Lampard 5 - Where was he? Did very little.
Ballack 7 - One of his better Chelsea performances. Looked comfortable on the ball and got us rolling.
Kalou 7 - He'll improve his accuracy. Unlucky to hit the bar.
Shevchenko 6 - Worked hard, but wasted a couple of chances.
Drogba 7 - Too selfish at times, but did well for the goal. Must stay onside more though.

Subs:

J Cole 6 - Couldn't really get into the game.
SWP 6 - See Joe Cole.

Ref: 5/10 - Didn't play any advantage and denied us 3 clear cut penalties.

Play like this next week, and we're through

Calidad wrote:I thought Joaquin was decent. He skinned Cole & Terry at one point and was in a position to put in a good cross, but he slipped. Put in some good balls, and Chelsea had to double up on him (as with Vincente) If I was Valencia I'd play the same system.

Yep one of the best Valencia players on the night. better than Silva in the second half maybe.

Pleased that you thought that Diarra was the best player S4P - and Lampard the worst. That was the general consensus of me and mates. How was the atmosphere?

@S4P:
Re. Silva's goal, now you know how the rest of the footballing world feels about 90% of goals that Lampard scores

Also, you needed to win the match against us last season when we had won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. If you repeat the lethargic performance you showed that day in Camp Nou then Valencia will cruise through to the semis.

nCfC-CaDiZ wrote:Pleased that you thought that Diarra was the best player S4P - and Lampard the worst. That was the general consensus of me and mates. How was the atmosphere?

Diarra was brilliant, Lampard awful - tried to go past his man a lot, but doesn't have the pace to do so.

Atmosphere was fantastic, mainly because I think it was such a great game (particularly 2nd half). I don't blame Valencia for sitting back and holding on, it was a brilliant result for them, but imo we should have won (via a penalty or not).

Don't get me wrong, I can understand why many are making Valencia the favourites now, but they cannot sit back like that at home, because they will be beaten. If they want to progress, they need to come out and attack, like they did 1st half. I still think we'll go through (via a 2-2 draw or a 0-1/1-2 win).

@ kas

kas wrote:
Also, you needed to win the match against us last season when we had won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. If you repeat the lethargic performance you showed that day in Camp Nou then Valencia will cruise through to the semis.

That day, we tried playing 4-5-1. Ridiculous, but to be fair, we were chasing 2 goals. In this game, 1 might be enough and Jose will play at least 2 up front.

Essien should be back too, which will improve us no end.

In fact, you played quite an attacking lineup (Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Joe Cole (Huth 83), Makelele, Lampard, Duff (Gudjohnsen 58), Robben, Drogba (Crespo 58).
But for some reason the attacking threat never quite materialised. I remember us also being quiet for most of the match.


Oh, and it's "ricochet"

Tie is completely open - Mourinho

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho remains positive despite his side's 1-1 draw at home to Valencia in their Champions League quarter-final first-leg.

Mourinho conceded that "normally the team that plays at home considers a draw a bad result" but insisted that "the tie is completely open".

He said: "Valencia believe they are in a better position as they are at home.

"But we can win there or get a draw and take them to extra-time. We can go to Valencia and reach the semi-finals."

Valencia scored what could prove to be a crucial away goal when David Silva thundered in a 30-yard effort to break the deadlock.

But Chelsea hit back through Didier Drogba to give themselves a lifeline for the return leg next week.

It seemed that Chelsea took a while to settle and struggled with Valencia's creativity in the first half, but Mourinho did not see it that way.

He said: "The first half was not much different than the second half. I think they scored an absolutely amazing goal. But that is a goal that happens some times.

"It was a tough game for both teams - both were very tired. Chelsea tried to win the game and Valencia defended well with a lot commitment.

"In Valencia, we will need to play well and we know the atmosphere we will get there so we need a good referee, too.

"But I believe it will be a very hard game for Valencia."

i was disappointed by villa, but silva was excellent

Rosicky wrote:i was disappointed by villa,

In Terry's pocket

Nice summary S4P, though I don't agree that Valencia sat back. Their system was desgined for counter-attacking which is what they did. IMO the game was end-to-end and Miguel persistently storming down the wing signified this imo. Was one of the best CL games for sometime.

Calidad wrote:Nice summary S4P, though I don't agree that Valencia sat back. Their system was desgined for counter-attacking which is what they did. IMO the game was end-to-end and Miguel persistently storming down the wing signified this imo. Was one of the best CL games for sometime.

It may well have been end-to-end, but 2nd half, Valencia certainly created very little. I honestly can't remember Cech making a save 2nd half. That's the point I was trying to make

SILVA!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a player! What a strike! I told u to keep an eye on him.

Yeah David Villa was disappointing but he might turn up in the 2nd leg, he's an incredible player.

The tie is still open but i would say valencia edge it a bit because they are capable of frustrating teams and playing for a boring 0-0 or even nick a win when they don't deserve it.


The match was surprisingly good and i am hoping for an even better 2nd leg. May the best team progress

Marca's reaction to Silva's goal during their online commentary:

"¡Madre del amor hermosooooo!. ¡Qué golazo de Silvaaa!. El canario, desde el pico del área, se saca un sublime latigazo que se cuela por la escuadra de la meta de Cech. Tremendo...
Stamford Bridge se ha quedado atónito con la obra de arte de Silva. Es para verlo mil veces..."


Translated version (loses some of the impact):
Mother of the love hermosooooo. What golazo of Silvaaa. The canary, from the tip of the area, removes sublime latigazo that is strained by the square of the goal of Cech. Tremendous…
Stamford Bridge has remained overwhelmed with the work of art of Silva. It is for seeing it thousand times…

Just saw the highlights...Canizares

How is this guy ahead of Valdes in the Spain team? He's not been great this season, and tonight he was terrible. Flapped at every cross, was always wrong in coming off his line, terrible positioning, and ultimately made a big mistake which led to the Chelsea goal. Valencia better go shopping for a goalkeeper in the summer, unless Butelle is good enough.

I feel dirtier than an english slapper but:

AMUNT VALENCIA!!