Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last several months, then you already know that Atalanta’s unreal final run in the Champion’s League Group Stages has secured them a Round of 16 match up against La Liga’s Valencia CF. A staple of La Liga’s Champion’s League positions, outside of Barca, Real, and Atleti, Valencia has slotted themselves, along with Sevilla, as the best of the rest in La Liga.
After finishing top of a strong Champion’s League Group (which included the likes of Ajax and Chelsea), Valencia (similar to Atalanta) have been prone to some extreme Jekyll and Hyde moments this year. In the past month, they’ve gone from being embarrassed by relegation candidate Mallorca, beating and keeping a clean sheet against Barcelona, and again promptly losing 3-0 to upstart La Liga surprise of the season Getafe.
Currently in 7th, and with a crucial match at home this Friday against Atletico Madrid, Valencia are in danger of missing out on European football next season if they cannot turn their fortunes around in La Liga this year. This potentially bodes well for La Dea, who are not in such a desperate state to claim stake to the top 4 as their opponents, but at the same time Valencia has been in this spot before, and has the experience of consistently playing in multiple competitions at the same time.
For Valencia, it all begins with their mid-field captain Dani Parejo, who has been with the club for almost 10 season after joining from Getafe in 2011. Capable of doing nearly anything on the pitch, he has netted 52 goals for his side since joining, a remarkable number for any midfielder in nearly 10 years of match action. Choosing to play a standard 4-4-2 (sometimes with two defensive minded CMs), Parejo looks to link up to forwards, Uruguayan National, Maxi Gomez, as well as, Spanish National, Rodrigo. Both of their goal scoring records don’t seem too impressive given their pedigree, especially Rodrigo with 33 goals in 133 Valencia appearances. However, Gomez is still quite young and has demonstrated quality in the past to be the heir apparent to Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani on the Uruguay national squad (HUGE shoes to fill). As a club, they have netted 33 goals in 23 games this season, which again, bodes well for Atalanta who are sometimes vulnerable controlling the counter-attack at the back. They have already demonstrated the ability to silence the Lukaku and Lautaro combo, and I do not see Rodrigo and Gomez as a superior combination than the Inter duo.
In my opinion, the key player and game changer to neutralize may end up being right winger Carlos Soler. A Valencia native, and youth product, at 23 he has already made 100 appearances with the first team squad. Perusing YouTube, he can fly down the right hand side, and should keep Djimsiti and Gosens busy all day with his runs. If the defense can neutralize Soler, it should allow Atalanta to dictate the offensive flow and hopefully control the offensive pace of the game.
Now on paper, a neutral observer would assume that Valencia should comfortably pass through to the next round. Just look at the Transfermarkt values of the clubs: nearly 600M Euros for Valencia versus 325M Euros for Atalanta. However, everyone knows that games are not played on paper; and Atalanta has consistently demonstrated that they can equally punch above their weight, and never let the opponent on the other side of the pitch determine how they will come out and play. Given Valencia’s current form and learning a little more about their squad, I feel good about Atalanta’s chances of passing through; but I will not get cocky. Atalanta needs to lay it out on the field like they did in the last half of the group stage, especially against a squad that has the experience that Valencia has. If they can dictate the tempo, like they’ve shown against the likes Inter and Juventus, than it gives them as good a chance of any to continue their memorable Champion’s League run. As always, Forza Atalanta!
