Real Madrid vs Valencia CF
Spanish Primera Division
Spain
The Spanish league, called Liga BBVA this year!
Valencia | | Real Madrid |
The Primera División (First Division) of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Professional Football League), commonly known as La Liga (The League) or, in terms of sponsorship, Liga BBVA (BBVA League) since 2008, is the top professional football league in Spain. It is contested by 20 teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda División and replaced by the top three teams in that division. A total of 58 teams have competed in La Liga, nine of which have been crowned champions. Since the 1950s, Real Madrid and Barcelona have dominated the championship. The former have won the title 31 times while the latter have won it on 19 occasions. However, during the 1930s and 1940s and in the last two decades, La Liga has seen other champions including Atlético Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, Deportivo, Real Sociedad and Real Betis.
Match scheduled:
12-12-2009 from 21:00 until 23:00GMT
4:00pm
La Liga returns in Spain after an interesting midweek full of European action. For Real Madrid fans, the attention will switch from the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille to the Mestalla stadium in Valencia.
Valencia are third in the Spanish Primera Liga table standings.
They have 28 points from thirteen games and they seat just three points behind Real Madrid who are second in the table.
Valencia are unbeaten at home this season and they’ve scored as much as 10 goals in six matches at the Mestalla stadium.
The only time they failed to score on their own soil was against Barcelona when they played a goalless draw back in October.
Defensively, Valencia have an average record with one goal conceded per game played at home. In their last match at the Mestalla, Los Che suffered a blow as Real Mallorca’s Valero cancelled David Villa’s 48th minute goal. The game ended 1-1 with the hosts picking up their fourth draw in La Liga this season.
Valencia will be hoping to avoid a second consecutive home draw on Saturday when they’ll welcome Real Madrid.
Los Che have lost only once this season compared to Real Madrid’s two defeats. However, too many draws have put them below Los Blancos in the table standings.
Real Madrid analyses
Real Madrid are five points behind Barcelona in the table and both of their losses came against big guns away from home.
The Spanish giants failed to clinch a single point against Sevilla and Barcelona earlier on so they’ll want to grab their first victory from a titanic encounter.
Real Madrid’s away record is not the best and Valencia could gain confidence over Los Blancos’ statistics.
In six away games, Real Madrid netted nine goals and conceded five times. Despite recording three away clean sheets, Manuel Pellegrini’s men cannot boast too much knowing that they’ve also failed to score away from home at two occasions.
