Winnable tie for sure (also one we could definitely fork up)

Surely a lesser side overall than Napoli?

The thing I would say they have over Napoli is that they are still competitive in their domestic league. Napoli's league season finished a while back, and they have looked like a team that has lost its edge. Valencia, though, are in the mix for CL.

And Spanish teams have a great record of winning the Europa.

We lost to them on penalties in the 1980 Cup Winners Cup final.

Graham Rix missed the crucial spot kick that night.
Still hurts 39 years later

John Carew

And Spanish teams have a great record of winning the Europa.

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Yep. Unpredictable. Especially at their turf I think we really need an equally concentrated performances as against Napoli. Not easy but I think Chelsea face an equally strong opponent in their semi.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

'They beat Celtic, Krasnador and Villarreal to get this far in the Europa.'

Not played anyone decent yet then?

not really, I think they are beatable but we just need to have the discipline we showed against napoli

comment by Gunnerthru (U6675)
posted 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
And Spanish teams have a great record of winning the Europa.

______

Yep. Unpredictable. Especially at their turf I think we really need an equally concentrated performances as against Napoli. Not easy but I think Chelsea face an equally strong opponent in their semi.
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I think Chelsea have really lucked out compared to us, would have preferred to have drawn Slavia Prague & Eintracht Frankfurt than Napoli & Valencia on paper at least. Having said that, as DJ explained Napoli didn't turn out to be as difficult as we expected and Frankfurt are 4th in the Bundesliga and just knocked Benfica out so hopefully they can do the same again and knockout the c/-/avs. Emery should know plenty about Valencia so hopefully that will help too. The fact that they are still in the CL race in La Liga certainly means the squad should still be focused and motivated but on the other hand they are of course under pressure and must work hard in every game so overall I'd say greater chance of fatigue/injuries. However, we are in a similar situation and just lost Ramsey, not sure how long he'll be out for but i suspect minimum 2-3 weeks which could be a real blow at this stage.

Carew to come out of retirement just to retire Cech

comment by You Can't Buy Class (U12019)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by Gunnerthru (U6675)
posted 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
And Spanish teams have a great record of winning the Europa.

______

Yep. Unpredictable. Especially at their turf I think we really need an equally concentrated performances as against Napoli. Not easy but I think Chelsea face an equally strong opponent in their semi.
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I think Chelsea have really lucked out compared to us, would have preferred to have drawn Slavia Prague & Eintracht Frankfurt than Napoli & Valencia on paper at least. Having said that, as DJ explained Napoli didn't turn out to be as difficult as we expected and Frankfurt are 4th in the Bundesliga and just knocked Benfica out so hopefully they can do the same again and knockout the c/-/avs. Emery should know plenty about Valencia so hopefully that will help too. The fact that they are still in the CL race in La Liga certainly means the squad should still be focused and motivated but on the other hand they are of course under pressure and must work hard in every game so overall I'd say greater chance of fatigue/injuries. However, we are in a similar situation and just lost Ramsey, not sure how long he'll be out for but i suspect minimum 2-3 weeks which could be a real blow at this stage.
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Frankfurt are an extremely dangerous team and one I’m happy to avoid.

Valencia have some decent players and are on a good run but I’d be extremely disappointed if we don’t dispatch them relatively comfortably.

We've only beat Valencia once in 5 meetings with 3 defeats and 1 draw. Hopefully this time things will be different.

We have a Spanish manager who knows the in and outs of Valencia and how best to defeat them. Tough game but I'm hopeful of a tie victory.

comment by Tu Meke Mesut (U3732)
posted 5 hours, 13 minutes ago
John Carew
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