Friday, May 18th, 2012
Málaga’s last game was a well fought one, as they defeated Racing Santander for their second away victory of the season. It got them back on track following an indifferent few weeks, and Manuel Pellegrini will be asking his side to show some continuity as they look to solidify a European berth. The game will be special for Pellegrini as he spent five years with Villarreal, as did Santi Cazorla who was Málaga’s marquee signing over the summer. The reuion will of course be more emotional once they return to El Madrigal later in the season.
Pellegrini says he has good memories of his time there, and that despite the position The Yellow Submarine find themselves in believes they can pull out of it. He’s leading the Málaga challenge now though, and they’ll be looking to impress in front of their home fans at La Rosaleda who are demanding a little more flair and vibrancy given the investment made. Truth is though, Málaga are a side still in the process of gelling and many issues are yet to be resolved. They’ve looked slow and anxious in central defence, lacked fluidity at times in midfield while in attack there has been a lack of spark. Cazorla has been targeted by teams recently as Málaga look to handle the notion when he doesn’t play, they don’t either. This will be a real test of their character and system.
Pellegrini will be without Weligton, Baptista, Jesús Gámez, Joaquín and Eliseu.
Villarreal meanwhile will be looking to achieve back to back wins following their victory at El Madrigal against Real Betis. Although only a narrow 1-0, it will give Villarreal belief coming into future games following what seemed a season in danger of becoming a lost cause as injury and difficult adjusting to a new system were hampering them.
A Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich midweek was inevitable as Villarreal had turned their attentions off European football for another season. Juan Carlos Garrido spoke recently saying that his side have to find a new way of playing with the resources they have, and hinted that the club was indeed in a state of transition when it comes to both personnel and style. Despite their loss of Cazorla, and more recently a blitz of injuries, Villarreal still possess some real talent and heading that is Borja Valero. Though his partner in crime moved on, Borja has been showing glimpses of his brilliant best in recent weeks. It will just be a case of supporting him with the right players and system in the future.
José Catalá is the latest name on the injury list, joining the likes of Nilmar, Giuseppe Rossi, Cristian Zapata and Cani. However, Gonzalo has come back into the squad following his brief layoff. Youngsters Florian Lejeune, Joselu and Moisés Gómez have all been called up too. The latter, just 17 years old.
FACT: The last time Villarreal kept 4 consecutive clean sheets in La Liga was three years ago
Tags: Cazorla, Isco, Joaquin, La Liga, Malaga, Nilmar, Pellegrini, Villarreal
[...] Match Preview: Málaga welcome Villarreal to La Rosaleda 0 Posted by on November 27, 2011 at 10:30 pm var addthis_product = 'wpp-262'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":false,"data_track_addressbar":false};if (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}Match Preview: Málaga welcome Villarreal to La Rosaleda Pellegrini says he has good memories of his time there, and that despite the position The Yellow Submarine find themselves in believes they can pull out of it. He's leading the Málaga challenge now though, and they'll be looking to impress in front of … Read more on Spanishfootball.info [...]