Malaga CF [R]

In the middle of a tough week for Malaga. Over the next 11 days the depth of their side will be tested. First test passed, however, with the win over Extremadura in La Copa del Rey.

The more important games are coming up however, and it looks as though Malaga will be without Dario Silva on Saturday after he received a red card (very questionable call, according to Marca and Joaquin Peiro, he didn't make any physical contact with the opposing player, but was given a red card anyway for a tackle with his studs up).

Then the big premiere in Europe midweek, meeting the Bosnians, Zeljeznicar, and then looking forward to a meeting next weekend with Valencia.

These next two weeks should tell us what kind of year to expect. The tie against Extremadura doesn't bode well, but with all of the big games approaching, who could blame them?

 

2 wins, Malaga's best start ever in Primera!! Things are looking good, but I must say our competition thus far hasn't been from the top flight of the league. These were games that Malaga should have been expected to get at least 4 points from, so the 6 points is better than expected, but not a huge surprise.

The big test comes next week with Valencia coming to La Rosaleda. Playing the league champions should be a good litmus test for how good this team is this year. Last year, Valencia came to Malaga and won 2-0 to seal their league championship. I'm hoping the Malaga players will remember that match and play with pride to defend what they lost last year. If they had won that game, they wouldn't have had to play the Intertoto and would have qualified for the UEFA outright.

No predictions yet, but a draw looks to be the best bet.

 

Musampa is on fire. I wished I picked him up for my fantasy league team before the season started. As it is right now he is way too expensive.

Do you think Malaga will score against Valencia? Everybody knows that Valencia will play the counterattack in this game and when they play that type of game is awfully tough to score against them, especially if Valencia scores first.

 

Hard to say...

I saw the Malaga-Valencia match in 2000, obviously these are two vastly different teams (that Valencia had Piojo Lopez and Mendieta) and played a different style of play.

This new Valencia team has a Malaga flavor to them, with De Los Santos and Rufete both moving to Valencia on transfers a year ago.

I agree that Valencia will be tough to score on, and with Dario Silva out, Malaga will be without as much scoring punch. My prediction would be 1-1, 1-0, or 0-0. I don't see many goals this game, and Malaga can't afford to get down early like they have in their two previous matches. I'm a little concerned about their defense, with the exception of Koke Contreras in goal.

Interesting enough, Musampa came to Malaga their first year in Primera, highly touted as a member of the '95 Ajax Champions League winners. He had a difficult time adjusting to La Liga and rode the pine for most of the year, rarely playing, never starting, and certainly not scoring. Most of the fans didn't like him very much and weren't happy with the transfer. He also had to break through a midfield lineup that included Rufete, De Los Santos, and Movilla (now of Atletico Madrid) and Agostinho (who transferred to Paris-SaintGermain and hasn't played, despite tremendous speed and fantastic crossing ability, a poor man's Mark Overmars, including the lack of a right foot). Musampa may have made a difference earlier on, but I think the strong midfield that Malaga had prevented him from getting in on matches the past couple of years and improving. This year, Musampa is showing his quality, everything that Malaga hoped he would be when they got him (fairly cheaply, I believe) from Ajax.

 

Darn it, I know. My opinion of him, unfortunately, has been colored by my lack of seeing him since his first year in Malaga, when he was definitely not playing at the same level. Too bad, because I should've known better and picked him from the start.

 

I'm nervous for this game, more so than for the Colorado-Dallas game last night, even though I support both teams, seeing Malaga go further in the UEFA is such a bigger deal than the MLS Cup for me.

This game should be tough. Malaga will be without Dario Silva (again) after he earned a yellow card in the first match, leading to 3 carrying over from the Intertoto. Tough, especially when Malaga must score.

However, Malaga will not exit the competition this early. 2-0 to Malaga, with Dely Valdez and and the young malagueño Koke scoring.

 

Who won that game? Sad to say but even living in Colorado there was no coverage, no game shown, no advertisement. Really they do a piss poor job of marketing MLS and the Rapids here.

 

http://www.mlsnet.com/games/02/1002coldal.html

Colorado advances off the tiebreaker. Here's hoping they hang it on LA.

 

Malaga goes through on a Dely Valdez penalty. Hey, I'll take it any way we can get it. Good win and on to the second round!

Does anyone know when the draw is for the second round?

 

bump...

Malaga beat Amica Wroski or something like that in the first leg (home for Malaga) of the second round of the UEFA Cup, after letting in a goal, off a deflection in the first minute of the game, Malaga came back to score two and were unlucky to get more.

2-1 in the first leg, back to Poland for the second leg.

Jeremy

 

On to the next round, with Malaga winning by the same score, 2-1 on goals by Dario Silva and Musampa. They let in an early goal again (16 minutes in) but four minutes later, Dario Silva knotted the score and gave Malaga the all-important away goal that they needed. Musampa made Malaga's pass to the next round sure in the 73rd minute.

According to Marca, the players are now hoping that they will play one of the "big fish" either the large teams that were in the UEFA or the teams such as Newcastle, Liverpool, etc... that dropped out of the Champions League. The draw takes place on Friday, we shall see....