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Valencia lost 3-2 away to Celta Vigo at the weekend. They went ahead after half an hour but the ref awarded 2 (converted) penalties against them before half time. It was 3-1 with a minute to go, when a Celta player scored an own goal. The same player still had time to concede a penalty (getting himself sent off in the process), but Kily Gonzales couldn't put it away.
According to Libredirecto.com,
Arsenal will be receiving 1200 tickets for the Champs League QF away leg in
Valencia on April 17th.
They quote David Dein as saying, "we understand that
Valencia do not want that many tickets
[for the 1st leg at Highbury] as their fans do not travel that much. However, our
sporting culture is different and all tickets that we get will be well
used."
No word yet from Arsenal on distribution of these tickets,
but see here for
home leg details (don't expect a general sale, ST & TRS only).
Many thanks to Julio for that translation, and for that of the Lauren interview which follows.
This is also from Libredirecto.com. The original (in Spanish) is here.
Journo - "Cuper's Valencia, runners up in the Champions League..."
Lauren - "We have got one of the hardest European teams. All three Spanish
teams were very strong, but you have to remember that Valencia did finish
runners-up last season and are one of the strongest teams in Spain."
J - "Your rivals will be fighting hard to get Aimar back..." [Aimar is a creative Argentine midfielder bought by Valencia from River Plate at the end of January, he was player of the season in Argentina last year]
L - "You can't ignore players like Aimar, because they are very
important for whichever team they play for. However, Valencia stand out
because they play as a team rather than as a group of individuals."
J - "How are Arsenal doing at this stage of the season?"
L - "We are doing OK. It is true that it is hard for us to win away from
home, but we are a strong team especially at home."
J - "Would you have preferred to play the first [Champions League] game
away from home?"
L - "No. I like to play the first game at home. I believe that in order to
reach the semis we have to win at home first."
J - "If you reach the semis you'll avoid Real Madrid, Bayern and
Galatasaray..."
L - "The only thing that we are thinking of at the moment is the game against
Valencia. To think who we would play in the next stage would be wrong."
J - "Because of the CL teams, Are the Spanish and English leagues the best at
the moment?"
L - "I think so, they are the best two leagues at the moment. For me the
Spanish league is the best though. They have the winners and runners up of
the Champions League, and I think that therefore the Spanish league is just
above the English one."
J - "After playing for Levante, another team from Valencia, did you ever
think that you might play for them (Valencia)?"
L - "It had been mentioned, but when I left Levante the best offers that I
received came from Celta and Mallorca. I decided on Mallorca as I thought
that they were the team that best suited me and my abilities. My time at
Mallorca went really well, after all, it gave me the opportunity to join
Arsenal."
J - "And how are you doing in England?"
L - "Things are going really well now. The first couple of months weren't
great as I didn't do much due to the injury that I had. I am ok, as I am
playing and I have the trust of the manager."
J - "Do you ever think in coming back to Spain?"
L - "Truth is, that if I choose to leave the Arsenal... well, there is no
place like Spain."
See also Arsenal vs Valencia page
for links, head-to-head, etc.
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