Whilst Werder Bremen won their league tie 3:0 against VfL Bochum, UEFA Cup opponents Celta Vigo lost their Spanish league game in the Primera Divisíon. On Saturday, 03.03.2007, Celta Vigo suffered a bitter 0:1 defeat at the hands of FC Valencia.
Whilst Werder Bremen won their league tie 3:0 against VfL Bochum, UEFA Cup opponents Celta Vigo lost their Spanish league game in the Primera Divisíon. On Saturday, 03.03.2007, Celta Vigo suffered a bitter 0:1 defeat at the hands of FC Valencia.
Whilst Werder Bremen won their league tie 3:0 against VfL Bochum, UEFA Cup opponents Celta Vigo lost their Spanish league game in the Primera Divisíon. On Saturday, 03.03.2007, Celta Vigo suffered a bitter 0:1 defeat at the hands of FC Valencia. The club are now separated from the drop zone by single point.
In front of a 44,000 strong crowd at the stadium ‘Mestalla’ saw Celta’s defence perform strongly during the first period. Vigo’s trainer Fernando Vázquez had opted for an extremely defensive tactic with three deep midfield players which succeeded in hindering Celta’s pacy style of play. The hosts created only the one chance, after a mistake by Pablo Garcia, which was left unpunished.
At the other end, Vigo’s duo of Gustavo López and Nené could produce little to test Valencia’s back line. The home sides trainer was dissatisfied with the pace of the game during the first half and had the pitch sprinkles activated at half time to increase the speed of the game.
Whether the watering of the pitch played a major roll or not is unclear but the fact remains that both sides came out rejuvenated in the second half. Celta upped the tempo nad came to chances through Baiano. Nené as well as Canobbio and it was only the reflexes of Santiago Canizares in the Valencia goal which prevented the visitors taking the lead.
It was ironically Celta’s pressure that worked in Valencia’s favour eventually. The leagues third placed side made it 1:0 in the 67th minute as Fernando Morientes made use of a Hugo Viana delivery.
Eight minutes later Fernando Váquez made three changes to his team in the hope of inspiring a more attacking approach. The move may have cost Vigo the control in the midfield but the visitors did create a number of openings. Time and again though, Vigo were denied by Canizares which resulted in the game remaining at 1:0. Celta Vigo are currently stuck in 17th place in the league table and have only won one of their last 14 league games (1:0 against Osasuna).
The Celta Vigo trainer had selected the following team for the tie: Pinto – Contreras, Lequi, Placente, Tamas (75. Bamogo) – Ángel, Pablo García, Nené (75. Jonathan), Canobbio, Gustavo López (75. Núnez) – Baiano.
