VALENCIA V RANGERS:THE RANGERS manager, Walter Smith, has cranked up the intensity on Valencia ahead of the pair's meeting in Spain tonight by claiming all the pressure is on the hosts.
Rangers lie second in Group C, a point ahead of Valencia, following the pair’s draw in Glasgow last month. This clash appears pivotal to what is realistically a two-horse race to qualify alongside Manchester United.
“I think Valencia will be looking at this game as a must win, having lost at home already to Manchester United and also to justify their tag as one of the favourites to qualify,” said Smith.
Valencia – now minus the two Davids, Villa and Silva – enjoyed a fine opening to the La Liga season, but have stumbled recently. They now lie six points adrift of league leaders, Real Madrid, with the Valencia manager Unai Emery forced to appeal to disgruntled supporters for backing.
“They lost at home 10 days ago (to Real Mallorca) and then they were held to a draw at the weekend (by Real Zaragoza) so there has been a little bit of disquiet, so maybe we can take advantage of that,” said Smith.
“When you lose the players they lost in the close-season, it always takes a bit of time to find your feet. They did so exceptionally well in the early part, but there were always going to be one or two problems.
“For the last few seasons, David Villa has been their top goalscorer and, when there was a little bit of a problem, he would do something special to win a game.”
Smith’s last Champions League campaign could be his most rewarding. The manager, who will retire at the end of the season, knows the return of any reward at all from the Mestalla would leave Rangers in a fine position with two games to play. As Smith acknowledged, qualification to the last 16 for the Scottish champions was regarded as highly unlikely when the group stage was drawn.
“To see if we can try to remain in the tournament after Christmas is a pressure that’s welcome,” said Smith. “Last season, we were never in this position and we are quite pleased to be in it at the moment.”
Rangers have injury concerns over Vladimir Weiss and Maurice Edu, but will revert to their favoured 5-4-1 tactical approach for European games this evening.
“We have settled into the formation we have been using in Europe and, so far, we have done okay,” the Rangers manager said.
“But it’s like everything else. You can surprise teams initially, but as you go on they know what you are going to be doing.”
Guardian Service
Tonight, Estadi de Mestalla, Kick-off - 7.45pm (Irish-time), Live on Sky Sports 4
