UEFA Champions League – Match Preview: Bursaspor versus Valencia CF
Bursaspor are all set to become the first Turkish team from outside Istanbul to participate in the UEFA Champions league as they welcome Valencia in their first Champion’s league group stage match of the season. Valencia have a great history in European competitions and despite missing out on a spot in the 2009/2010 UEFA Champions league to their terrible finish in the 2009 La Liga season, they have made a fantastic comeback to feature in this year’s competition.
Valencia is perhaps one of the few European club sides to have reached the UEFA Champions League final twice without winning it. Their first UEFA Champions League final came in the year 2000. This was Valencia’s first ever European Cup final but the Spanish giants lost to fellow rivals Real Madrid.
It was a heart breaking moment for all Los Che fans, who were expecting their team to make history in Paris on 24th of May, 2000. Valencia’s second UEFA Champions League final came in the following season of 2000-2001. Valencia dispatched Arsenal in the quarter-finals and then defeated Leeds United in the semi-finals to seal a final appearance against Bayern Munich.
But as luck would turn out, Valencia lost their second European Cup final in a row as Munich ended up as winners after a tense penalty shootout. Year 2001 was the last time when Valencia made it to the final of the UEFA Champions League and since then, the Spanish club has failed to register another final appearance.
This season, they will be looking to indeed embark on a successful European run but it can prove to be quite difficult as in the summer transfer window of 2010, Valencia parted ways with some of their most talented and valued players. David Villa was sold by Valencia to Barcelona and David Silva was bought by Manchester City. In doing so, Valencia did gather enough money to satisfy their increasing debts but on the field, Los Che’s performances are bound to deteriorate.
Players like Villa and Silva used to carry the team forward and earned fame at Valencia, however since their departure, many pundits have predicted that Valencia are certainly not as strong as they used to be at least in attack. The former Spanish champions still own players such as Hernandez and Mata but Villa and Silva’s absence will be felt nonetheless.
Valencia’s opponents, Bursaspor are new comers in the Champions League and they will be looking to lay down a statement of intent by winning their first group stage match. Bursaspor won the Turkish football league in 2009-201 and in doing so sealed their spot in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. So far in the 2010-2011 season, Bursaspor has had a splendid run of form as out of their past five matches, Bursaspor have recorded a victory on four occasions. Only one of the previous five games has resulted in a loss for the Turkish champions.
Valencia have also had a bright start to their 2010-2011 La Liga season as in their opening league they smashed three goals past Malaga C.F. In their second match that took place on 11th of September 2010, Valencia defeated Racing Santander by 1-0. Bursaspor also won their last league match against Eskisehirspor F.C in the Turkish football league by a score line of 2-1.
The most important thing with regard to this match between Valencia and Bursaspor is the venue. The match is taking place in Turkey at Bursaspor’s home ground i.e. Bursa Ataturk Stadium. Turkish fans are notoriously famous for their fireworks and the atmosphere they create on famous European nights that their local clubs seldom see, therefore Valencia should be prepared for a violent welcome in Turkey.
Given Valencia’s attacking power and Bursaspor’s home advantage, the game is setup to be an interesting encounter but it is expected that a draw will be the most likely outcome as both the teams are quite evenly balanced.
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