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 PREVIEW: DEPORTIVO - VILLARREAL (LIGA, SUNDAY 21h00)
17 May 2008 -- Two of the most in-form clubs in la liga are colliding at the Riazor. Villarreal is now the team that has collected the biggest number of points during the second round, and it's travelling to La Coruña with the intention of celebrating its historic second place with a new victory. Meanwhile, Lotina's Deportivo searches for a positive result in order to secure the Intertoto spot. The novelty is the return of Lafita and the presence of Guardado on the bench.
STATISTICS: VILLARREAL IS THE BEST TEAM IN THE SECOND ROUND
Pellegrini's Villarreal arrives to the Riazor as the best team in la liga during the second round, the Valencians have added 39 points within the last 18 matches. Meanwhile, Depor is second in that particular classification with 35 points (tied with Real Madrid and Sevilla). Villarreal was fifth in the table after matchday 19, and its good numbers helped the squad to reach an historic second place. More spectacular is the comeback of Depor, the Galicians were penultimate and now they are close to end eighth.
Another interesting statistic during the second round is the one related to the goals allowed by both teams. And is that Villarreal and Deportivo are the best defences in Primera División within the last eighteen matches. In that period of time, the Valencians have only leaked ten goals, while the Galicians only fourteen. In fact, Villarreal arrives to the Riazor after five consecutive clean sheets: 2-0 Vs. Valladolid, 1-0 at Betis, 2-0 s. Getafe, 2-0 at Recreativo and 2-0 Vs. Espanyol. The last goal allowed by the Valencians occurred one month ago, it was during the 0-1 defeat at Almería (April 13).
And if this numbers aren't enough, Villarreal is also the second best visitor in la liga. Pellegrini's team has achieved 33 points in this condition after 18 visits. If the Valencians achieve a win at the Riazor, then Villarreal will surpass the current mark of Real Madrid (34 points in 19 matches) and will end the season as the best visitor at Primera División. A curious fact is that Villarreal hasn't drew any away game (11 wins and 7 defeats).
But Deportivo is also living a positive streak, at least at the Riazor. Lotina's team is arriving to the match after seven straight wins at home and its close to tie the club's record achieved on the season 1999/2000: nine wins in a row. Besides, Depor has a very impressive mark during the second round: 22 of 24 possible points achieved at home. A very different scene to the one saw in the first round: only 5 points conquered in 9 home encounters.
Finally, Villarreal has achieved positive results during its latest visits to the Riazor. The Valencian squad has only lost one game within the last five visits to La Coruña. It was during last season and curiously, the goals were scored by Joan Capdevila, player that's now performing at Villarreal (2-0, September 16th, 2006).
 DEPORTIVO: LAFITA RETURNS, GUARDADO ON THE BENCH
Depor is ending the season with a sigh of relief, it was penultimate in the table just four months ago, but the spectacular reaction in the second round has secured the permanence in just sixty days. Besides, the Galician team has the option to play the Intertoto cup, in order to achieve the pass, it only needs a point in this game. If Deportivo fulfils the mission, it will be the first club in Spain that clinches a place in Europe after ending the first round in relegation.
And coach Lotina is ready to fight for this achievement using the same 5-2-2-1 system that has allowed to add 38 points since matchday 21 (against Valladolid). The only novelty in the formation is the return of Angel Lafita. This means that Lotina will use two playmakers in the line-up. The Aragonian has scored three goals and has added three assists during this liga campaign. He will take the place of Juan Rodríguez.
Other novelty is that Andrés Guardado is returning after surpassing a stress fracture. The Mexican played for the last time in March, it was during a game against Murcia at the Riazor, encounter in which he only performed during 29 minutes due to his injury problem. Lotina already said Guardado will enjoy of minutes, meaning the ex-Atlas winger will enter during the second half.
The doctors at the club were worried about Albert Lopo, the Catalan didn't end Friday's training due to a new back injury (lumbalgy), but he was fine on Saturday, meaning he will play the game. Fabril's Adrián López 'Piscu' was called as the alternative and he will start the match sited on the bench.
The rest of the team will be the usual one. Dudu Aouate could be playing his last game at Depor after all the rumours appointing to his exit. Meanwhile, Pablo Amo and Fabricio Coloccini will play alongside Lopo in the centre of the defence. It will be a special game for the Argentinean, because if he plays the fully ninety minutes, he will become the first field player at Depor to complete a perfect season with 38 appearances and 3,420 minutes on the pitch.
But Coloccini is more worried about achieving the Intertoto spot, as he commented during the week: "We are confident in ourselves. It will be tough but we play at home, with our people. We only need a steep forward after all the suffering and we are hoping to achieve it. The true is that it will be disappointing to not clinch the spot. After been near the relegation, to be just a point away from Europe and not been able to fulfil the mission, it will be a shame. But we also have to be conscious that we lived tough times. People was worried and we achieved the permanence some weeks before everybody was expecting."
Another player that's breaking marks is Manuel Pablo. If the Canarian plays the game, he will complete 231 liga presentations with Depor and will surpass legendary keeper Juan Acuña in the list of players with more games in Primera División. Then, he will be the fifth men with more matches in la liga, just below Fran (435), Mauro Silva (369), Donato (303) and Sergio (241). Against Villarreal, Manuel Pablo will cover the right-back position, while Filipe Luis will play on the left side.
In midfield, Lotina will play with his usual couple: De Guzman-Sergio, while Christian Wilhelmsson will continue to perform on the right wing. Finally, Xisco will be the lonely striker in the formation. The Majorcan is the current pichichi in the squad and will try to improve his current mark of nine goals. The casualties for injury reasons are Juan Carlos Valerón, Antonio Barragán and Rodolfo Bodipo. This last one had muscular problems on Saturday. The players discarded for technical reasons are Antonio Tomás and Joán Verdú.
List of called players (19): Aouate, Munua (goalkeepers); Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Adrián López 'Piscu', Pablo Amo, Coloccini, Filipe Luis (defenders); Sergio, Juan Rodriguez, De Guzmán, Cristian, Wilhelmsson, Guardado, Lafita (midfielders); Xisco, Riki, Taborda and Ruben Castro (strikers).
 VILLARREAL: PARTY & FUN
Pellegrini's squad is fulfilling its best season in Primera División and has celebrated the second place in la liga with several acts, including a big party during last weekend's game against RCD Espanyol at El Madrigal and a series of music concerts during the week. The squad hasn't trained normally during the week -something confessed by ex-Depor man Joan Capdevila- and all the attention of the media has been more focused in the next Champions League, the signings and the renovations of players rather than the game with Depor.
But Villarreal arrives to La Coruña thinking of a victory and specially dreaming with a new clean sheet. Goalkeeper Diego López is near to break a mark at the club: the minutes without allowing a goal. The last time the Galician keeper leaked a goal was on April 6th against Sevilla (0-2), since then he has achieved four straight clean sheets. And its that Diego López only needs 31 minutes in order to break the mark of Sebastián Viera (391 minutes). Curiously, this mark was imposed at the beginning of the present season.
One of the reasons for the current success of Villarreal is the offensive potential at the squad. Pellegrini's team is the sixth best scorer in la liga with 61 goals in 37 matches. and the 65% of those goals were conquered by the four strikers in Pellegrini's team: Nihat Kahveci (18), Giussepe Rossi (11), Guille Franco (7) and Jon Dahl Tomasson (3). Nihat will be a starter at the Riazor, but Rossi won't play since the Italian is struggling with a lumbalgy. His place will be taken by the Mexican Guillermo Franco.
Despite Villarreal is playing for nothing, coach Pellegrini will present the same squad that defeated RCD Espanyol on the past weekend (2-0). But there are two novelties for injury reasons, one is the mentioned case of Rossi and the other is Diego Godin. The central defender is out with a knee problem (abductor). His position will probably be covered by French veteran Pascal Cygan. His partner in the centre of the defence will be Gonzalo, while Javi Venta will play at the left-back position and ex-Depor Capdevila will do it on the left.
The 4-4-2 formation will have Marcos Senna and Uruguayan Eguren Ledesma in midfield. Senna has played an impressive season and already broke his personal marks of goals in one single campaign, he has scored four times on the present liga tournament. National coach Luis Aragonés liked what he saw and Senna was included in the list for the UEFA EURO 2008.
Another player included in the Spanish squad for the European championship is Santiago Cazorla. The Asturian has played 35 games on this season and he already tied the five goals conquered during his stage at Recreativo. Together with Senna and Cazorla, Capdevila is the third Villarreal's player that will join Spain for the UEFA EURO 2008. Against Depor, Cazorla will cover the right wing, while veteran Robert Pires will cover the left.
Santi Cazorla expressed his happiness for the current season and also his wished for the game at the Riazor "I am very happy at Villarreal, I'm part of the second best team in Spain. We have a very good group of humans and that fact can be noticed on the pitch. The calmness and humility we possess is something that's given confidence to the players. Let's hope we will be able to close the season with a victory in La Coruña."
List of called players (18): Diego López, Viera (goalkeepers); Javi Venta, Gonzalo, Josemi, Capdevila, Ángel, Cygan (defenders); Marcos Senna, Eguren, Pires, Mati Fernández, Cani, Bruno, Cazorla (midfielders); Nihat, Guille Franco and Tomasson (strikers).
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Deportivo: Aouate - Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Pablo Amo, Coloccini, Filipe Luis - Sergio, De Guzmán - Wilhelmsson, Lafita - Xisco.
Villarreal: Diego López - Javi Venta, Gonzalo, Cygan, Capdevila - Cazorla, Senna, Eguren, Pires - Nihat, Franco.
Referee: Medina Cantalejo (14 matches on the season, only 5 wins for the local teams).
Kick-off: 21h00 (Riazor)
Record Vs. Villarreal: 8 wins for Depor, 4 draws, 5 wins for Villarreal (Primera)
Record at the Riazor: 4 wins for Depor, 2 draws, 2 wins for Villarreal (Primera). |
 LOTINA VS. PELLEGRINI
17 May 2008 -- Lotina searches his first victory against Pellegrini. Depor’s coach hasn’t been able to defeat Villarreal’s boss after seven confrontations in la liga. The Basque commented before the game the reasons why Deportivo’s players are wishing to play in Europe, while he also commented about the rumours linking Omar Bravo with the Galician club.
Manuel Pellegrini has been one of the most successful South American trainers in Spain during recent times, the Chilean signed for Villarral in the year 2004 after leaving River Plate in Argentina. Since then, he has achieved a seventh spot, one fifth place, one third place and his most recent success: the second position on the present liga campaign. He was also the coach that guided the successful participation of the Valencians in the UEFA Champions League 2005/2006. Tournament in which Villarreal reached the semi-finals stage.
But Pellegrini hasn't conquered any title yet. Contrary to Miguel Ángel Lotina, coach that already won a copa del rey with RCD Espanyol. Besides, Depor's trainer possess more experience in Primera División: 290 games as a coach. Meanwhile, Villarreal's boss only accumulates the half of that mark: 151 games.
And the interesting statistic is that Lotina hasn't been able to defeat Pellegrini. After seven confrontations in la liga, the Basque coach has only achieved two draws against the Chilean. The last meeting between this two trainers occurred at the end of the first round, Depor started winning the game and in the end, Pellegrini's Villarreal achieved a 4-3 victory.
LOTINA
Miguel Ángel Lotina talked before the game at Abegondo's press room, he analysed his squad for the game and also the reasons why Depor deserves to play in Europe for the next season "I have called 19 players just to cover our backs, although Lopo and Xisco have trained today without any problem. At a national level, people was saying that Depor was going to Segunda and now we can enter into Europe, therefore we are call the attention of everybody in the sense they should be aware about us. We want to play in Europe, first for ourselves, secondly for the fans and thirdly for the young people at our squad that has never played a continental tournament."
The Basque warned that Villarreal is coming in order to obtain a victory at the Riazor "It's normal they are celebrating, but that doesn't mean they are coming here on vacations. They are football players and want to win. For me is the best team in Spain for the game they practise, the only one that was able to give troubles to (Real) Madrid. We can't think we will defeat them without working hard or without suffering."
One of the main news of the days was related to Omar Bravo, according to newspaper La Opinón, the Mexican striker is near to sign for Depor and Lotina joked about this matter "What a joy you have gave me, I didn't know it." Later, he commented in a more serious tone "He's a very interesting player, he can contribute with things."
Finally, the Meñaka-born trainer explained in a more general sense what he expects from the summer market "On Monday, it starts what really matters, what we do at the office, the complicate thing, to negotiate, to bring, to guess right... Now we know the squad, we know how do they train and how they compete, we have found a way to play and that's an advantage. With all this in mind, we only need a few incorporations in order to improve what we have. If nobody leaves, I only need two signings."
PELLEGRINI
The Chilean coach didn't give a press conference before the game. His only declarations during the week were related to the possibility of coaching the national team of Chile in the future "I will love to coach Chile, if I have the chance, if there's a possibility between both sides, I will like to end my career directing the national team. But right now I'm only thinking of Villarreal." |
 WILHELMSSON IS THE WINTER SIGNING WITH MORE MINUTES
17 May 2008 -- The winter market is commonly appointed as an emergency source of players for the clubs. But on the present season, the incorporations for the second part of la liga have been less than discrete. One matchday before the end, only three players that arrived during the winter window have accumulated more than 1,000 minutes on the pitch. And the first man on the list is Wilhelmsson, one of the reasons for Depor's comeback.
With one game remaining in the calendar, only three of the twenty incorporations during the winter market have played for at least 1,000 minutes on the liga campaign. An statistic that demonstrates this season's reinforcements haven't had the expected impact in their respective clubs. A curiosity is that one of this signings haven't debuted yet with his club. It's the case of Peruvian Damián Ismodes who has been injured since his arrival to Racing Santander.
But there are exceptions. And one of them is related to Deportivo, because the winter signing with more minutes played is Christian Wilhelmsson. The Swedish winger arrived to Deportivo coming from Nantes FC in a long spell that has been very successful for the Galicians. So much that both clubs are currently negotiating a final transfer. 'Willy' has been one of the reasons why Depor has reacted in the second round and his efforts on the right wing are crucial in Lotina's scheme. And his performance has also called the attention of national coach Lars Lagerbäck, because ‘Chippen’ has earned a slot in Sweden's national team for the UEFA EURO 2008. Competition that starts in one month.
The other two winter signings that already surpassed the 1,000 minutes on the season are Athletic's goalkeeper Armando and Villarreal's defender Sebastián Egurén. There's another player that could pass this mark if he's able to perform in the last matchday of the season, he's non other than Pablo Alvarez. The Depor's winger that joined Racing Santander in December of the past year.
Another interesting case is Marco Rubén, the Argentinean striker was signed by Villarreal after been linked with Deportivo, then he was loaned to Recreativo de Huelva. He won't be able to break the mark of 1,000 minutes, bur he has been an important piece in the fight for the permanence as he has scored four goals with the Andalucian team, including two against Barcelona.
The numbers of the winter signings on this season:
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 ARANZUBIA COULD BE AN OPTION FOR DEPOR
17 May 2008 -- Goalkeper Dani Aranzubia confirmed on Thursday that he won't continue at Athletic Bilbao for the season 2008/2009. It's speculated the Basque could join Depor although he didn't want to confirm it. Meanwhile, striker Jonathan Pereyra was also linked with Depor. Finally, Pablo Amo has offers from other Primera clubs and Depor already started to negotiate for Wilhelmsson.
It seems clear that one of the positions that Depor will modify for the next season is the goalkeeping function, Dudu Aouate could be transferred to England while the future of Gustavo Munúa is once again uncertain. Some names have been mentioned as possible replacements and the main choice to reinforce Lotina's Deportivo for next campaign is Daniel Aranzubia (28).
The current goalkeeper of Athletic Bilbao ends his contract in June and during Thursday, he gave a press conference announcing that he won't continue at the Basque club. The reporters are aware that Depor is interested in him and they asked about this possibility, the response of the Logroño-born player was: "It would be a nice exit. Depor is a very good team, but nothing is for granted and we will have to wait. I have something out there."
Aranzubia has played his entire career at Athletic Bilbao, he has played 162 matches through 8 seasons at the Basque club. He also played a U-20 FIFA World Cup (Nigeria 1999) and a very common story between the fans is that he was the starting keeper in the Spanish squad above Iker Casillas. However, Aranzubia has been also appointed as an insecure keeper, mainly for his errors in la liga, reason why he has lost the starting spot at Athletic within the last three seasons.
Other player that has been linked with Deportivo is Jonathan Pereira Rodríguez (21). The Vigo-born striker belongs to Villarreal and according to Galician sportpaper Deporte Campeón (DxT), Depor is negotiating the loan of the player for the next season, it could a very similar deal to the one of Lafita, this mean a loan with a buyout option for Depor and clauses that will allow his comeback to Villarreal in the future.
Pereira is currently playing on loan at Racing de Ferrol (Segunda División) and is having an impressive season, he has performed in 34 matches and has scored 11 goals (he's the pichichi of the squad). A key in the operation is that Villarreal doesn't count with him for next season, but at the same time, they want to see him progressing and Deportivo will be a better choice than Racing Ferrol. In fact, it has been rumoured that Villarreal and Deportivo could negotiate two similar deals with players that don't count for Pellegrini: central defender José Martín Caceres (21) and striker Marco Rubén (21).
The case of Pereira was heavily commented during Friday. The same striker was asked about this rumour and his response was "I don't know anything about it. I just found out. But it's a good place. A team that's currently fighting for the Intertoto and that's playing with young people. It's in Galicia. Near from home. I won't have any problem just because I played at Celta. When you are a professional, it's the same thing to do it with your biggest rival. I want to play in Primera División. I want to learn and keep growing."
Meanwhile, coach Miguel Angel Lotina talked in Radio Galega about the plans for next season, the main thing he said is that "If Coloccini doesn't go out, we will only sign two or three new players." phrase that confirms the intentions of Richard Moar about only making a few changes for the next season.
About the players that are currently performing at Deportivo, La Voz de Galicia published an article about Pablo Amo. The central defender ends his contract in June of 2009 and according to his agent, Rodrigo Fernández, he has offer from three clubs in Spain "We are talking about good teams, I must take care of Pablo's future and I want to talk about it during my visit to A Coruña" The intention of Fernández is to negotiate an extension with Depor or to propose an exit. According to him, any of this three clubs could present a good offer for the defender.
Also, Deporte Campeón (DxT) informed on Friday that Deportivo and Nantes FC already started to negotiate the final transfer of Christian Wilhelmsson. Apparently the French club is wishing to recollect €4 million for the Swedish winger, while Depor is offering €3 million.
BARRAGAN IS PROGRESSING
Antonio Barragán returned from Seville and gave a press conference in order to explain the evolution of his knee injury. "Psychologically, I'm very well because I am a strong person. I hope this is going to be just an story in my career. Doctors are positive and have said the knee is fine. They are the ones dictating the deadlines and I just have to work. If this is a matter of months, nothing happens because I want to live years of success. I want to be ready to join my team mates, I'm wishing to do it. " The doctors at the club expect that Barragán will start to run in three months. |
 PREPARING SUNDAY'S GAME
16 May 2008 -- Coach Lotina still has to decide the team that will be used for Sunday's game against Villarreal. The squad trained in a double session during Thursday and the casualties were Xisco and Coloccini, however it's expected that both men will be ready for the clash at the Riazor.
Deportivo trained in a double session during Thursday, the first training took place at Abegondo and the second behind closed doors at the Riazor. Coach Lotina didn't test any specific line-up, mainly because he's missing two players: Xisco and Fabricio Coloccini (both hamstring strain). However, it's expected that both men will be fit to play for Sunday.
Who already worked with the group are Christian Wilhelmsson (flue) and Dudu Aouate (ankle). The player that didn't end the first session was Riki after suffering a muscular problem, but he was fit to work in the second session .Also, Antonio Barragán returned to La Coruña and started his recuperation process, the ex-Liverpool suffered a serious injury one month ago and his comeback is expected until the end of the present year.
About the line-up for Sunday, Lotina will probably keep the system with five defenders, the main question is to know if Angel Lafita will return to the left wing, or if Riki or Juan Rodríguez will have a chance in the starting squad. Lotina already said that he will give some minutes to Andrés Guardado, although the Mexican winger will probably appear as a substitute. |
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