Tottenham’s Record in Spain (Valencia Preview)

Tottenham have a difficult match ahead of them as they fly to Spain for tomorrow’s final preseason game against Valencia who, last year, finished third in La Liga for the third successive season. In last season’s Champions League they were eliminated at the Group stage but went on to reach the semi-final of the Europa League, losing out to the eventual winners, Atletico Madrid.  They also reached the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup, losing to Barcelona. They play in the 55,ooo seater Mestalla Stadium which is renowned for its steep terracing and for its intimidating atmosphere. Valencia had started work on a new 75,000 seater stadium but work had to stop because of the club’s financial problems. The work has recommenced, having reached agreement over the financial matters and is due to be completed in two years.

Valencia Financial Difficulties

Valencia’s massive debt has seen them sell their top players in recent seasons. David Villa and David Silva went to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively in 2010 and last summer their captain, Juan Mata was sold to Chelsea. Their leading goalscorer for the past two seasons has been Roberto Soldado who scored 52 goals in total. The 27 year old striker has five caps for Spain, his last after a five year wait, was against Venezuela last February as a second half substitute when he scored a hat-trick  and also missed a penalty.

Tottenham Selection Issues

Andre Villas-Boas, having assessed the strength of his squad over the past month will be considering who will be in the starting line-up for the first match of the season against Newcastle United on Saturday week. Luka Modric is not under consideration while his transfer saga continues, Scott Parker is out injured, having undergone surgery and Sandro and Giovani are still involved in the Olympic football tournament, with Brazil meeting Mexico in Saturday’s Final. Rafael Van der Vaart has missed all but the first half of the match against LA Galaxy with injury but it is expected that he will take some part in the match against Valencia.

There are a number of players who are assured of their place against Newcastle – Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jermain Defoe (unless another striker is signed in the next eight days). Villas-Boas has a number of decisions to make – who will be his first choice goalkeeper? What is the best central defensive partnership for his style of play? How to set up midfield to make best use of the players available. On last season’s form, Brad Friedel and Younes Kaboul deserve to be included so either Jan Vertonghen or Michael Dawson will be in central defence although Steven Caulker may be given some time to stake a claim for inclusion. The midfield issue will depend on fitness and who is able to produce the level and style of performance expected by the coach.

Previous Meeting:

Spurs’ record in European competitions against Spanish clubs isn’t great. It started well with the 1963 defeat of Atletico Madrid in the Cup Winners’ Cup Final (5 – 1) but there have been no further successes. Tottenham and Valencia have never faced each other in Europe, their only previous meeting was in August, 1965 in the Costa Del Sol Tournament which Spurs won. They defeated Valencia 2 – 1 in the first game, Eddie Clayton and Cliff Jones scoring the goals and then beat Standard Liege in the Final.

Spurs in Spain:

Spurs’ last match in Spain, in April, 2012, will not bring back happy memories. It was the Champions League quarter-final (1st Leg) match against Real Madrid which they lost 0 – 4. Aaron Lennon withdrew just before kick-off and was replaced by Jermaine Jenas. Emmanuel Adebayor scored after four minutes and then Spurs were reduced to ten men after fifteen minutes when Peter Crouch was sent off for a second bookable offence. Three second half goals, including a second for Adebayor, ended the tie as a contest.

The previous encounter with a Spanish club was in the UEFA Cup in October, 2007 against Getafe at White Hart Lane which Spurs lost 1 – 2. It was during this match that the news circulated around the ground that Martin Jol had been sacked. Not a good night for Tottenham.

Success against Atletico Madrid

The previous April, Spurs lost to Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. Spurs had taken an early lead through Robbie Keane in the second minute. Sevilla were awarded a fortunate penalty which Fredi Kanoute scored. Sevilla then added a second goal before half-time.

In March, 1985 Spurs earned a scoreless draw in the second leg of the UEFA Cup 4th Round tie against Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Spurs had lost the home leg by a single goal. Those two games revive unfortunate memories for Steve Perryman. They were his last European appearances for Spurs and in the 1st leg at White Hart Lane, it was his early own goal which gave Real victory and in the away game he was sent off with 15 minutes remaining. The home leg also saw two of Spurs proud European records come to an end. It was their first home defeat in a European game and the first home game in which they had failed to score a goal.

April, 1982 brings memories of defeat to a brutal Barcelona whose mantra was not the beautiful football of today but ‘win at all costs’. The first match in London was a series of fouls and free-kicks awarded against the Spaniards. The match ended 1 – 1 and the second leg game was similar as Spurs lost 0 – 1.

To end on a brighter note, the victory in Rotterdam in May, 1963 made Tottenham, the first British club to win a European trophy. Spurs defeated Atletico Madrid 5 – 1 with Jimmy Greaves (2), Terry Dyson (2) and John White scoring the goals.

Andre Villas-Boas will be looking for a performance from the team to set them up for the visit to Newcastle on Saturday week. With internationals next week it will be difficult to complete signings and to make preparations for the start of the Premier League season.