Are we going to pull it out? Salvage our European season? The match starts at 3pm eastern and is televised in the US on GolTV.
ENDAVANT VILLARREAL!
UPDATE: Lineup posted on UEFA.com: Diego Lopez; Angel Lopez, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila; Eguren, Bruno; Pires, Cani; Nilmar, Llorente.
Pretty standard; no surprises from Valverde. Best aerial duo of strikers we possess, so let’s hope for some good crosses from the wingers/fullbacks.
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A difficult game at Sevilla follows and you would expect that Valverde would want to make some rotations but the squad looks very thin. I think Nilmar has to start in place of Llorente seeing as he’s not available Sunday. Ángel could also start in place of Javi Venta and Gonzalo for Marcano. Midfield is the biggest problem area where the only options are Fuster and Escudero. I can’t see either getting a start.
Diego López
Ángel – Gonzalo – Godín – Capdevila
Pires – Eguren – Bruno – Cani
Rossi – Nilmar
A draw would suit Lazio more than Villarreal so I expect that it’s going to be very tight.
It looks as though the Copa del Rey 2nd leg is now back to the original date after Puertollano appealed.
http://www.elperiodicomediterraneo.com/noticias/noticia.asp?pkid=504635
3 changes. angel, gonzalo,nilmar 4 venta,marcano, g.rossi
woohoooo! 2-0 already in 14′. pires, then cani. and lazio are down to 10. let’s try and get that 4-0…
and a penalty, nilmar pulled down by diakite. pires…3-0!!!!!!!!!
I tune in to see Pires scoring the penalty, think it’s a nice 1-0 lead after 16 minutes, then I see the scoreboard! Good times!
And Nilmar misses a sitter!!!
we need that 4th goal, we pass lazio on gd that way. don’t jinx it!
Nick says:
November 5, 2009 at 3:23 pm
And Nilmar misses a sitter!!!
joga bonita = no sitters
lazio has 4 yellows and 1 red. now gonzalo has been sent off, our first card ends up being a red and giving up a penalty.
but foggia hits the bar, so it’s still 3-0. but now it’s 10 vs. 10. so we’ll be seeing a lot of marcano over the next few weeks.
Penalty for Lazio and a red for Gonzalo. Stupid stupid challenge from him. …then my stream died so I missed the penalty!! But so did they! 3-0!
gonzalo red card. foggia penalty missed
gonzalo = 3rd red u/valverde
pires w/2 gols. 1 off free kick. 1 off penalty
@jackson: but you and i know, gonzalo is horrible about staying on his feet. that’s not a new fact under valverde.
nilmar almost…got us the magic 4-0. halftime, 3-0 villarreal. wonderful.
nilmar seems to be very close to finding his form. we’ve been saying that all season, but still…
also great news: levski sofia 0-0 salzburg at halftime. i’m not sure we can expect the bulgarians to hold (or improve upon) that result, but it would make the next round’s salzburg-lazio match a real cracker. any result in that would be good for us.
@sidrath, i c u like nilmar a lot
heh, i think these comments make me sound more negative than i am about nilmar. i expected there to be an adjustment period, but when things are going bad, we don’t have time to break in new players. he should play in europe, but he needs training in la liga. unfortunately we can’t risk losing more games due to poor finishing.
once he gets going, i think he could be great. but the club’s record signing? the jury is out.
i hope nilmar score..he should.
nice ovation for xavi oliva, making his debut in europe. looks like diego lopez has a knock, but not serious enough that the sub was made at halftime. hope he’s ready for sunday…
Llorente looks badly hurt, could be hamstring not sure
Arrrghh! Just saw the replay, it was his ankle. Hopefully it’s not broken!
Ah he’s walking, hopefully just a minor strain! Phew!
pires almost had the hat trick. marcano came on for llorente, so it’s now a 4-4-1 with nilmar alone up front.
Nick says:
November 5, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Llorente looks badly hurt, could be hamstring not sure
llorente missed few matches last yr w/same injury.
@ sidrath. Nilmar is 2 light 2 b a CF & not really a SS.
in the other match, levski are down to 10 men but are holding on to the 0:0. let’s hope they can.
72′ zarate scores for lazio, it’s now 3-1. we’re not going to pass them for 2nd place in the group tonight :( .
rossi on for man-of-the-match pires. lazio have a lot of pressure, but time is slipping away from the italians.
come on..score one more.
penalty won by cani…rossi allowed to take it to help his confidence…4-1!
game over, 4-1 villarreal. and you have to be kidding me: salzburg score in 90+5′. so unfortunately if lazio win out, we have to win out and beat them on goal difference.
but salzburg play lazio at home and us away, so we should have a small edge. levski were so close to holding out…
sidarth says:
November 5, 2009 at 4:46 pm
penalty won by cani…rossi allowed to take it to help his confidence…4-1!
allowed?
9 goals in two games is much more like it. Thank god Mauro Zarate wasn’t on for the whole game. Awesome player. Yeah I’m happy enough with that for a nights work! Well done Villarreal!
well done.so bad we cant keep a clean sheet.i’ll take it though. :)
PIRES………is a CLASS ACT…….he ‘s done a great job…….
HEY VALVERDEER what happended… I thought Pires is too old to start…?
Anyway, Pires who took a PAY cut and only 1 year contract is saving Villarreal
….
anyway… I didn’t see the game.. but saw highlights on Sportmediaset and Nilmar was claiming Pires goal….COme on……..what’s with that>?
Highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgSXcFV0q1o
Just got finished watching it. The first 15 minutes were crazy, and other than Gonzalo’s loss of consciousness to pick up that red, the first half was very nice. I would have loved a fourth, but it was clear that Valverde wanted to make sure to keep a clean sheet for halftime so Lazio couldn’t get any momentum.
The second half was a very poor showing. Villarreal were beaten from the start in every dimension. Xavi Oliva played well after he came on, and the last 10 minutes were much more comfortable than the first 35 of the second half.
I was sure Llorente had torn his hamstring – I will take a sprained ankle over a torn hamstring any day. Hopefully he will pull through quickly.
Nilmar played well, but there were a couple he should have put in.
Cani had an amazing match. We also found out who the captain is when Senna, Gonzalo, Cazorla, and Pires are off the pitch – Cani!
Eguren was also great today. He played well wherever Valverde put him.
And has anyone ever notice how Bruno throws his arms around like a madman when he is tracking down an opposing player who has the ball?
RECAP -> Villarreal 4 – Lazio 1
Villarreal
Probable Starting Lineup:
4-4-2
López (Oliva 51″)
Angel, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila
Cani, Eguren, Bruno, Pires (Rossi 77″)
Nilmar, Llorente (Marcano 57″)
Goals
1-0 Pires (F.K) @ 2″
2-0 Cani @ 13″(Assist Pires)
3-0 Pires (P.K)
3-1 Zarate @ 72″
4-1 Rossi (P.k) @ 83″
P.K Missed Foggia (Lazio) @ 32″
Yellow Cards
Villarreal -> Llorente 52″, Bruno 59″
Lazio -> Radu 7″, Diakhite 14″, Foggia 29″, Rocchi 29″, Eliseu 63″, Zarate 93″
Red Cards
Villarreal -> Gonzalo 32″
Lazio -> Baronio 3″
.
RECAP -> Villarreal 4 – Lazio 1
Villarreal
4-4-2
López (Oliva 51?)
Angel, Gonzalo, Godin, Capdevila
Cani, Eguren, Bruno, Pires (Rossi 77?)
Nilmar, Llorente (Marcano 57?)
Goals
1-0 Pires (F.K) @ 2?
2-0 Cani @ 13?(Assist Pires)
3-0 Pires (P.K)
3-1 Zarate @ 72?
4-1 Rossi (P.k) @ 83?
P.K Missed Foggia (Lazio) @ 32?
Yellow Cards
Villarreal -> Llorente 52?, Bruno 59?
Lazio -> Radu 7?, Diakhite 14?, Foggia 29?, Rocchi 29?, Eliseu 63?, Zarate 93?
Red Cards
Villarreal -> Gonzalo 32?
Lazio -> Baronio 3?
.
I can’t believe Llorente played more than 45″, especially with Nilmar suspended vs.
Sevilla………………….especially with 3-0 up…
Well Guess WHAT?
Llorente is out with grade two sprain in right ankle. (out of 2 weeks?)
Lopez is doubtful so is Godin
Ruben can’t be called since he’s injured too……..
might as well go 4-4-1-1
Oliva/Lopez
Venta, Godin, Marcano, Capdevila
Cani, Bruno, Eguren, Escudero
Pires
Rossi
,
damn this is brilliant. WE ARE F****** BACK! without senna, cazorla n rossi starting we still did it. last year we were too dependent on these 3 thank god we are more of a team now.
if we can perform like this im sure red bull will be sucking yellow balls. btw ur right about zarate not starting that guy is one hell of a player.
n what can i say about pires, teh man is a legend. he is teh only player i used to look upto and respect in epl.
Note from moderator: Rahul, you know the rules about swear words. Keep it civil, thanks.
Rahul……..dude don’t get to excitied Lazio is off form team in Serie A…..and went down to 10 men @ 3″….( Yes Llorente got touched in the face – but the dive was excessive) .
Villarreal played well vs 10 men and in the first half……………..that’s thanks to Pires and Cani and Bruno………..
Nilmar is still misfiring (he had clear chances yesterday) and Llorente is now injured.
P.S Nice Language…………….
3 games in 5 days…..and 2 in 48 hours………………
wow………………………tha’ts messed up…
Villarreal-Puertollano – Tuesday Nov 10 @ 19.00
W/O Godin, Eguren for sure
@rahul. u sure u r not a pl fan? u sure swear like 1.
he is valverde’s best friend.
haha grow up guys