国产精品99一区二区三_免费中文日韩_国产在线精品一区二区_日本成人手机在线

Villarreal, Valencia head-to-head in all-Spanish Europa League clash

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-10 20:59:14|Editor: Shi Yinglun
Video PlayerClose

MADRID, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Local rivals Villarreal and Valencia will go head-to-head in Europe when they meet in the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday night.

It is not the first time the two teams have clashed in Europe, with their previous meeting in the semifinal of the 2004 UEFA Cup ending with Valencia winning the tournament on their way to a league and cup double under Rafael Benitez.

The first leg of the quarterfinal in Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica comes after a difficult weekend for both teams.

Valencia saw a 17-game unbeaten run come to a surprising end with a 2-0 defeat away to struggling Rayo Vallecano, while Villarreal had the agony of seeing a late Santi Cazorla penalty saved as they lost 2-1 away to Real Betis.

That defeat saw Villarreal drop back into the bottom three in La Liga, but as they showed a week ago in their thrilling 4-4 draw at home to FC Barcelona, a team that can count on players such as Gerard Moreno, Carlos Bacca and Karl Toko Ekambi in attack has to be taken seriously.

Villarreal have left rivals such as Sporting Lisbon and Zenit St Petersburg in their wake on their way into the last eight, and have used the competition to boost morale for their fight to avoid relegation in Spain.

Valencia, meanwhile, dropped to sixth in La Liga after their weekend setback and will be without key players Carlos Soler (suspended) and Geoffrey Kondogbia (injured). Goalkeeper Jaume Domenech is also going to miss out after being taken to hospital with acute gastroenteritis, but that will not be a problem as Norberto Neto, who is first choice in La Liga, will replace him.

Sunday sees both sides in La Liga action again, with Valencia facing another derby at home to city rivals Levante, while Villarreal have a vital visit to fellow strugglers Girona, but with a chance of European glory and a semifinal against either Arsenal or Napoli, neither Valencia boss Marcelino Garcia nor Villarreal's Javi Calleja are going to be making concessions with the weekend in mind.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001379660621
主站蜘蛛池模板: 黔江区| 卢湾区| 岑巩县| 怀化市| 崇信县| 广灵县| 曲周县| 旬阳县| 霍城县| 石渠县| 汤原县| 娱乐| 郴州市| 木兰县| 湘潭县| 长岭县| 遂平县| 沙湾县| 佛教| 北票市| 商河县| 富顺县| 岫岩| 永和县| 庆元县| 汝州市| 盐边县| 余干县| 台前县| 马鞍山市| 思南县| 周口市| 秭归县| 霍州市| 甘洛县| 衢州市| 新闻| 白山市| 衡阳市| 富平县| 鄄城县|