Valencia vs. Elfsborg, 2nd leg of the CL qualifying matches.
First of all, I made a community for any Valenica fan out there, so join if you are one!
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Second, the team won their 2nd leg of the CL qualifying match against Elfsborg 2-1. Two goals, one from Helguera (its his first one with the team)and the other one from Villa. Didn't see the game since I was at school (first day for me, btw). But overall, I'm just happy that they are in the group stages again :)
Note: They dedicated their win to Antonio Puerta (who died yesterday), which I think its very touching for them to do that.
Match-report from UEFA:
The slim hopes of IF Elfsborg making their debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage were dashed by a clinical display from two-time finalists Valencia CF, who became the first visiting team to win in Boras in eight months.
Twice winners
Valencia, runners-up in 2000 and 2001, added to the 3-0 advantage they built-up at Mestalla two weeks ago by winning 2-1 at the home of the Swedish champions with Iván Helguera and David Villa securing their progress from the third qualifying round despite the brief cheer of a Daniel Alexandersson goal for the hosts. Elfsborg had already come through two rounds to make it to the brink of the group stage, twice winning 1-0 on aggregate against Linfield FC and Debreceni VSC, but knew their dream of claiming the biggest scalp in the club's history was fading as soon as Helguera scored when unmarked with just five minutes on the clock.
Alexandersson cheer
The home crowd, who have become accustomed to cheering their heroes to victory, watched their team battle bravely, however, and were on their feet on the half-hour when Alexandersson found the net. Indeed Elfsborg continued to hold their own against their more experienced opponents, with Anders Svensson and Denni Avdic impressing in midfield, but Magnus Haglund's side were even denied the satisfaction of a second-leg draw as Villa scored for Valencia in the final seconds.
Mistake costly
"We make a mistake for their [first] goal, and you can't afford to do that in games like this - after that we played for the fans and did well," said striker Fredrik Berglund. "We needed to put pressure on them early on in the game, and try to break up their play early on," added coach Haglund. "Their early goal made it virtually impossible for us, so it killed the game. We did well, but Swedish clubs in general will always struggle against world-class sides like Valencia."
source-UEFA.com
Line-up and the goals:
Elfsborg 1: Wiland, Mobaeck (Floren, m.18), Bjork, Augustsson, J. Karlsson (Andersson, m.74), Alexandersson, Ilola (M.Svensson, m.63), Anders Svensson, Avdic, Keene y Berglund.
Valencia CF 2: Hildebrand, Caneira, Albiol, Helguera, Moretti (Alexis, m.84); Joaquín, Sunny, Marchena, Gavilán; Silva (Villa, m.61) y Morientes (Arizmendi, m.55).
Goles: 0-1, m.3 Helguera. 1-1, m.30 Alexandersson. 1-2, m.90 Villa.
Árbitro: Yuri Vaskakov (RUS). Amonestó por el Elfsborg a M. Svensson y Berglund; y por el Valencia a Iván Helguera.
Incidencias: Partido de vuelta de la fase previa de la Liga de Campeones, disputado en el Boras Arena ante 15.000 espectadores
source-www.valenciacf.es
Pictures:
-No hotlinking!
Moment of silence for the death of the Sevilla player.
Fans in the stadium.
Enjoy as always and will crosspost this at spain_de_futbol and valenciacf_fans!