It wasn’t long ago that Granada was the darling of La Liga, jumping out to a surprising lead at the top of the league table. Since claiming the top spot just two weeks ago, Granada has crashed back to earth as they have now lost three consecutive matches.
With the 2-0 La Liga victory, Valencia managed to make it three straight wins in all competitions. After a slow start, the Bats are flying up the table and now sit level on points with Granada.
In this tactical analysis, we’ll look at the tactics used by Valencia to dominate the tempo of the match, leaving Granada scrambling to defend dangerous long diagonal passes. We’ll also delve into an analysis of Granada’s inability to use their numerical superiority in the centre of the park. Despite three central players, Granada failed to create meaningful opportunities on goal or manage the tempo.
Lineups
Albert Celades went with a 4-4-2 in this game. The flat midfield was vital to his approach as the surging vertical runs of Manu Vallejo and Ferrán Torres targeted the space created by Granada’s attacking outside-backs. Rodrigo Moreno and Maxi Gómez stretched the Granada backline while Geoffrey Kondogbia and Daniel Parejo operated behind them. The backline consisted of José Gayá, Gabriel Paulista, Ezequiel Garay and Daniel Wass while Jasper Cillessen commanded the goal.
Meanwhile, Diego Martinez countered with a 4-2-3-1, setting Roberto Soldado alone up top with Álvaro Vadillo, Ramón Azeez and Antonio Puertas in support. Former New York City FC man Yangel Herrera and Maxime Gonalons operated as the pivots with Carlos Neva, Germán Sánchez, Domingos Duarte and Quini forming the backline. The Portuguese Rui Silva rounded out the formation with his start in goal.
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