Albelda mindful of Chelsea's power
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Article summary
David Albelda warned his side that "there remains a lot of work to do" despite Valencia CF claiming a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their tie at Chelsea FC.
Article body
'A good result'
The sight of Valencia players hugging one another as they saluted their supporters at the end of Wednesday night's game left no doubt about their upbeat mood as they headed for home yet Albelda believes the Spanish contenders still have plenty to do to claim a semi-final place. "It's a good result," said Albelda. "We go home with the advantage of having scored a goal but there remains a lot of work to do. Chelsea are a very good team and we'll have to play very well because there's still a big danger. At the Mestalla it will be less tough than here but we're still going to suffer a lot."
Silva strike
Valencia impressed with an excellent counterattacking display in the first half where David Villa and David Silva both missed chances before the latter stunned Stamford Bridge with an unstoppable left-footed shot on the half-hour. "It was a good first half and a great goal," said Albelda, who admitted Valencia would have settled for a score draw beforehand. A rare mistake from the otherwise excellent Roberto Ayala let in Didier Drogba for Chelsea's equalising goal after 53 minutes, which leaves Valencia in a similar situation to their previous tie against FC Internazionale Milano, where they earned a 2-2 draw in Milan before advancing on away goals after a second-leg stalemate in Spain.
'On the back foot'
"It will be harder than against Inter," added Albelda. "Chelsea offer a more direct threat. At the start of the second half Drogba made it difficult and they managed to equalise and they kept up a high tempo and had us on the back foot." However, the fact Valencia have conceded just once in four home games in this season's competition – winning three – should mean that despite their captain's words of warning, Quique Sánchez Flores's team will be feeling cautiously confident about next Tuesday's return. As former Chelsea player Asier Del Horno said afterwards: "1-0 would have been great but I don't think we should be disappointed. It's ideal to go home with a goal."
