Next match, liga, day 26:

Osasuna - Valencia

Sunday 11th March 2007 at 21:00 hours. Reyno de Navarra.

Osasuna (Wikipedia)

Osasuna (Spanish Wikipedia)

So no Baraja, who broke a bone in his leg, and no Vicente, who I'm beginning to think has the legs of a 58 year old. Both have had injury plagued seasons.

Luckily Valencia gets an extra two days rest, as Osasuna plays against Rangers on thursday for the UEFA cup.

Osasuna have some injury issues, with Soldado and Savo Milosevic doubtful. Soldado is Osasuna's leading scorer, so they may just try and scrape by with a draw or a lucky win. This has the potential to be a bit of a snoozefest a la Nastic, but football is hard to predict.

And I swear I've come to believe that Angulo must have either some compromising pictures of Quique or he knows some information about Quique which he can black mail him. This is the only way I can explain the omnipresence of Angulo....but since Silva has card accumulation and will miss a match, Quique will have no choice but to play Angulo. No Angulo complaining allowed! (that is.... until after the match)

Not sure if the bar that I go to will show the match. Again, Osasuna played yesterday against Rangers, a match they dominated and were unlucky to escape with merely a draw, as Rangers equalized at the death. So, Valencia have an extra two days rest.

No Silva available, Vicente is rested as a precaution and Baraja is out for the season, but still, it's always fun to play: 'What should Quique do?' I would have titled it 'What would Quique do?', but I can't for the life of me predict that man's actions sometimes. 'Should' at least leaves some margin for error.

Q: What Should Quique do for Osasuna?
A:
[align=center]Cañizares
Miguel Albiol Ayala Del Horno
Joaquin Albelda Marchena Angulo
Viana
Villa[/align]

Part me of wants to rest Ayala and reward Navarro with a start for punching Burdisso's snout, but Osasuna is not going to give three points away easily. A win would of course be nice, but I'm also concerned about trying to stay injury free. Valencia's squad is beginning to get thin again, and they really can't afford any more injuries if they wish to compete in the CL and in La Liga.

very true,we dont wnt a repeat of november again.Lets hope Villa gets a rest and maybe comes in 2nd half.If not I would like to see DelHorno in LW instead of Angulo,but knowng QQ,he would do exactly that.

My oh my!

I don't think a better weekend for Valencia could have happened. Barça drew against Madrid 3-3 , while Gimnastic de Tarragona beat Sevilla 1-0 . This means that Valencia can sit one point behind both Barça and Sevilla with a win tonight against Osasuna. Barça and Sevilla are tied with 50 points, but Barça sits first due to goal difference.

Come on Valencia!

What a chance Valencia has to be near Barça and Sevilla today. We must win!

We didn't. Another game far away from Mestalla. We didn't play any good match lke visitors.

Another good opportunity to gain some points on the opposition wasted. 3 points behind the leaders isn't too bad, though you have to figure that with both Madrid and Barça out of the CL, it will be easier for them to focus on the league.

First is still mathematically a possibility for Valencia, but I don't know if it is a realistic expectation.