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In the midst of their respective Copa del Rey and Europa League qualifiers, Valencia and Barcelona face this afternoon at Mestalla (16:15 Movistar LaLiga) their return to domestic competition with a lot at stake (follow the match live on As.com) . Bordalás’ men have only added two points from the last fifteen and Xavi’s men will take to the pitch as sixth-place finishers and out of the Champions League positions after the victories of Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.
But if the discussion about the points is already very serious, in the background of the duel it is settled a debate between two ways of understanding football. Bordalás and Xavi are tremendously far apart in their ideas. Both praised each other in the press room in the previous one while sending messages between the lines using their latest rivals as an argument: the Athletic and the Naples.
The local coach is hurt by the comments about his style of play that came from San Mameswhile that of Terrace he sailed with caution, assuring that “wasting time is a trap”, pointing out that this was not for Valencia.
The truth is that beyond the good words between the two, Valencia is the team in Europe that reduces effective game time the most and the one that commits the most fouls in LaLiga, two arguments before which Barça feels very uncomfortable.
Hangover. One of the issues that can decide the game is how Barça assumes for the first time the fact of playing last Thursday (Xavi complained that the game was in the early hours) and have a final duel against Napoli next week.
Instead, Valencia has its determining match against Athletic Club a week away, so Bordalás will be able to put on his gala team except for Thierry, who is injured. In exchange, he recovers Gabriel Paulistaalthough it does not seem that he will be a starter after so long without playing.
At Barça there are two fundamental problems: one is that in defense you travel with just enough; the other is that what is generated is not converted into an attack.
As far as defense is concerned, The penalties (Alves and Piqué) and injuries (Sergi Roberto, Balde, Lenglet and Umtiti) make decisions easier, but on the attacking side the focus is on Ferran Torres. The Valencia youth squad returns home after a game against Napoli in which he ended up very upset. He did everything well except hole out. It is true that he scored from a penalty, but he missed sung goals which adds more pressure to a game that emotionally was already special for him.
On the local side Ilaix Moriba will appear with the desire to vindicate himself against his former team, a Barça to which Saturday added extra pressure because they are sixth in the table. A fact that leaves the debates about the rhythm of the game in the background, because as Xavi said, Mestalla is already the scene of another final.