The Battle For Third (And Possibly Second) Place

By: Al | January 2nd, 2009

Valencia vs. Atlético

What better way to start the new year with one of the trickest fixtures in this Liga campaign? Atlético players have said countless times, the exact same thing, “we must keep up this good streak”. The players must be able to prove that they’re championship material tomorrow, because no one wants to eat their words, right?

Yes, we’re undefeated in 15 games. 7 draws and 8 wins. Impressive, yet not too impressive. We’re in a cool 3rd place, but we’re only there because of our goal differential, technically tied on 30 points with our friends Valencia. The teams below both of us, Real Madrid and Villarreal, are at 29 points. The lowest position we can reach if we lose is 5th place.

Simply put, we’re in a good position mentally and statistically but we’re not too far off from everyone else.

The team seems happy and is almost done with “hell week” of training. There was a bit of a scare that Kun Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez wouldn’t be available because of minor muscle problems, but after a few special training sessions, they’re back on the roster. Seitaridis is still out from leg injury and Éver Banega will be unavailable because a clause in his loan contract disallows him from playing against Valencia. Enough time to find a nightclub or shop for a new webcam.

Valencia

Valencia is a team that we defeated and lost to last season, 1-0 victories for both games. This Valencia team seems revived and is back to competing with the best of Spain after a god-awful 07/08, with their only upside being some great Copa performances. They also eliminated us from that tournament too, due to away goals.

There’s no need to compare the matchups of last season to predict this one, as Valencia is a completely new team. They’re well organized and have that hint of pizzazz that we also have. Oh yeah, they also have David Villa. Blah.

I’m a firm believer of the fact that if Atlético can win this match, they will be a true contender for the top spots in the league and for the title ONLY if Barcelona for some reason, starts messing up and we keep on defeating the little teams with ease.

I feel that it’ll be a scrappy Valencia victory, a 1-0 scored by one of their midfielders or defenders. Both teams’ styles are similar and Kun or Forlan better be slick enough to slice through the defense. Valencia is really good and won’t fall too easily. The Mestalla isn’t a fortress, as they have lost at home to Racing Santander and Sporting Gijon (really?) but that has nothing to do with a powerful performance that Valencia will put.

The last thing we need is to get schooled and make us contemplate everything and use it as inspiration to get better. No, we must be on top of things at all times and must go into this match at 100%. We should make them get schooled and make them contemplate everything and use it as inspiration to get better. (Woo, what a mouthful…)

Good luck, Valencia. And good luck Atleti, for this is your true time to shine…