Valencia and Villarreal were expected to produce one of the best games of the weekend anywhere in Europe. However, both teams gave a lot of respect to the other's attack and neither goalkeeper was required to make important saves in a 0-0 draw. All in all, Villarreal controlled the tempo of the game throughout the first half while Valencia almost managed to get the three points on the last 10 minutes.
3 things we learned from the 0-0 draw between Valencia and Villarreal
This game was expected to be the most entertaining fixture of the La Liga weekend, but it turned out to be quite disappointing.
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As soon as Alvaro Negredo and Rodrigo came in for Valencia, things heated up, with Los Ché coming close on a few occasions. These two strikers completely changed the game, and their entry caused the visitors to sit back and try to defend the draw, which they managed to do.
The referee’s performance on this game should also be noted. He had to make some challenging decisions regarding sendings-off and penalties, and managed to get all of the big calls right.
Valencia will visit Atletic Bilbao this Thursday to play at San Mamés while Villarreal will host Espanyol.
3 things we learned
- Shkodran Mustafi and Nicolas Otamendi are the main reasons behind Valencia's improvement this campaign. Los Ché knew they needed an upgrade on their defensive line if they wanted to compete with Atlético Madrid and Sevilla, so they went to the market and bought the defensive pairing that prevented Villarreal from getting the three points away from Mestalla on Sunday. Luciano Vietto and Gerard Moreno played well, but all their efforts were stopped by Mustafi and Otamendi's dominant display in the center of Valencia's defense.
- Nuno needs to be more ambitious. While it's true that Valencia ended up pushing Villarreal against the wall on the closing minutes, it was all due to how exhausted the Villarreal players were. It's not easy to keep Valencia under control at Mestalla, but the Yellow Submarine never had to rely on Sergio Asenjo's skills to rescue this draw. Valencia had a lot of firepower on their bench, and had Negredo and Rodrigo come in earlier, Nuno's team could have earned the win.
- It will not be easy for Valencia to secure a spot in next year's Champions League. They have lost third place to Atlético Madrid this weekend and Sevilla now trail them by just three points. Furthermore, Valencia's schedule will not get any easier, as they still have to visit the Camp Nou and the Santiago Bernabéu.
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