Valencia train sights on second place
Monday, November 7, 2011
Article summary
Third-placed Valencia CF trail Bayer 04 Leverkusen by just a single point in Group E and are hoping they can overtake them on matchday five when KRC Genk come to Mestalla.
Article top media content
Article body
Valencia CF's defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen last time out – their first victory in seven UEFA Champions League outings – cut their Group E deficit behind the German side to just a single point and they will be hoping to overtake them on matchday five when KRC Genk come to Mestalla.
• The game in Belgium on 13 September – the teams' first competitive meeting – finished 0-0.
• Valencia then drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea FC but a 2-1 matchday three defeat at Leverkusen left their hopes hanging by a thread. Jonas scored the second fastest UEFA Champions League goal to set Valencia on the way to a vital 3-1 win against the Bundesliga club last time out, however, bringing them right back into contention.
• On matchday two Genk went down 2-0 at Leverkusen and were then handed a sobering UEFA Champions League lesson as they lost 5-0 at Chelsea. Some pride was restored back in Belgium with a 1-1 draw against the London team, Jelle Vossen wiping out the visitors' early goal and László Köteles pulling off a superb save from David Luiz's spot kick.
Previous meetings
• Valencia lost their first home game against opponents from Belgium in a competitive fixture, going down 2-1 in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg against RSC Anderlecht and 5-2 overall. However their other four encounters have resulted in three wins and a draw.
• Genk have yet to win in a total of five matches against Spanish opponents but four of those encounters ended all square. The exception was the away game with Real Madrid CF in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League group stage which they lost 6-0.
Match background
• Genk, who failed to win a game during their only previous UEFA Champions League participation in 2002/03, have this and the home game with Leverkusen on 6 December to try and open their account in the group stage.
Team ties
• Jeroen Simaeys was in the Club Brugge KV team that drew 1-1 away to Valencia in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.
• Anthony Vanden Borre's RSC Anderlecht lost 2-0 in Valencia in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 14 September 2004.
• Vanden Borre was also part of the Belgium team that lost both FIFA World Cup qualifiers to Spain in October 2008 (1-2) and September 2009 (0-5) as well as the 2-0 World Cup qualifying reverse in October 2005, which also featured Thomas Buffel and David Albelda. Albelda was also involved in the 2-0 home win for Spain against Buffel's Belgium a year earlier.
• Elyaniv Barda was a member of the Maccabi Haifa FC side which lost 4-0 at home to Valencia in the second round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup, a competition the Spanish side went on to win.
• Pablo Hernández struck two extra-time goals against Club Brugge to send Valencia into the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 16. Éver Banega, Albelda, Miguel, Ángel Dealbert and Hedwiges Maduro were also involved in Valencia's 3-0 second-leg win at Mestalla.
• Adil Rami played in the first leg of LOSC Lille Métropole's 2-1 UEFA Europa League play-off triumph at Genk in August 2009, part of a 6-3 aggregate success.
• Mehmet Topal came on as a substitute in Turkey's 1-1 UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying draw away to Belgium on 3 June. The midfielder also featured in a World Cup qualifier against the Red Devils that finished 1-1 in September 2008.