Valencia CF - Rosenborg BK MATCH PRESS KIT Mestalla Stadium, Valencia Tuesday 6 November 2007 - 20.45 CET Group B - Matchday 4 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background A rare UEFA Champions League victory for Rosenborg BK in the fixture between these sides in Norway on 24 October means the pressure is on Valencia CF to win the return match and with both teams' coaches having since left their respective positions, an intriguing dimension has been added to this Group B game. The Spanish side trail second-placed Rosenborg by a point and know a third successive defeat in the competition could seriously hinder their chances of going through. • It all began so well for Valencia when David Villa's second-half strike earned them a victory away to FC Schalke 04 on Matchday 1. However that was followed by a home defeat against Chelsea FC and then the 2-0 reverse in Trondheim where Yssouf Koné and Vidar Riseth scored in an eight-minute spell shortly after half-time to boost Rosenborg's challenge. • It was only their second victory in their last 22 UEFA Champions League outings but it could not prevent coach Knut Tørum from losing his job the following day, the price paid for a disappointing domestic campaign. Trond Henriksen will be in charge for this game and also the rest of 2007. • The same game was also Quique Sánchez Flores' last European fixture in charge at Valencia after he was dismissed following their 3-0 Primera División defeat by Sevilla FC, the Spanish side's next match after the Matchday 3 meeting with Rosenborg. • It was also Valencia's first match against Norwegian opponents in UEFA competition while Rosenborg have experienced several group stage contests with teams from Spain. Their visits have invariably ended in disappointment, the seven fixtures resulting in five defeats and two draws. Those losses have tended to be fairly convincing as well: three by the margin of 4-1 (against Real Madrid CF twice and RC Deportivo La Coruña). • The two 4-1 Madrid victories featured contributions by players now currently plying their trade with Valencia. Fernando Morientes scored in the 1997/98 fixture while Iván Helguera played when the sides met in the 2005/06 group stage. • The two visits to Spain in which Rosenborg managed to avoid defeat both ended 1-1. They came at the home of Athletic Club Bilbao in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League and at Deportivo Alavés in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup third round. Last updated 05.11.2007 13:47:07CET Match background 1 Valencia CF - Rosenborg BK Tuesday 6 November 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Mestalla Stadium, Valencia • Should Rosenborg complete the "double" over the 2000 and 2001 UEFA Champions League runners-up it will be only their second success in 21 games on the road in the competition. They began this campaign with an away fixture and emerged with great credit following a 1-1 draw at Chelsea FC in what proved to be José Mourinho's final game in charge of the London club. • Miika Koppinen put the visitors ahead before half-time before Andriy Shevchenko snatched an equaliser. Hopes were high that Rosenborg could then build on that result at home to FC Schalke 04 but the German side scored two second-half goals to claim their first points in the campaign. • The other game in Group B features Schalke at home to Chelsea. The visitors can secure a place in the next stage should they win and Rosenborg do the same at Mestalla. Match facts Valencia • Six Valencia players have appeared in all five UEFA Champions League games so far this season, including qualifying: Raúl Albiol, Carlos Marchena, Emiliano Moretti, Joaquín, Fernando Morientes and David Silva. • Marchena is within one booking of a suspension having collected yellow cards on Matchdays 1 and 2. • Valencia returned to winning ways in the Primera División by defeating RCD Mallorca 2-0 away from home on Saturday. Morientes scored Valencia's first on the stroke of half-time, shooting into an empty goal after goalkeeper Germán Lux had failed to deal with a cross, before adding his and the visitors' second on 61 minutes when he converted from Silva's fine pass. • Albiol was suspended for the game after his red card in Valencia's previous game against Real Madrid CF. • Marchena and Rubén Baraja were both ruled out of the match with thigh injuries while Santiago Cañizares and David Villa both continue recoveries from hip and ankle problems respectively. Alexis, meanwhile, was carried off with a knee injury after four minutes with Luis Miguel coming on. • On Monday Alexis was ruled out for four months after test revealed he had sprained the posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee against Mallorca. • Óscar Fernández took charge of the team for the last time following Quique Sánchez Flores' dismissal while new coach Ronald Koeman looked on. • Fernández said: "My team responded extraordinarily well to the challenges this game threw up. I only have words of praise for everyone tonight, especially for their part in the last 25 minutes of the first half when we played with order, concentration and with everyone perfectly placed on the pitch. My first line of defence was Fernando Morientes and my last was Timo Hildebrand." • The result against Mallorca was Valencia's first win in three games and only their second in seven matches in all competitions. • It continued a run of Valencia drawing none of their 16 games in all competitions this season. They have won ten and lost six. • Koeman's first game in charge will be the UEFA Champions League encounter with Rosenborg. The former FC Barcelona defender was unveiled at Mestalla last week and admitted: "We have to win our remaining games in the Champions League to have our destiny in our own hands." Last updated 05.11.2007 13:47:07CET Match facts 2 Valencia CF - Rosenborg BK Tuesday 6 November 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Mestalla Stadium, Valencia • Having lost at Rosenborg, Valencia travelled to Sevilla FC looking for three Primera División points on 28 October, but instead slipped to another defeat. The home side took the lead in the ninth minute when Albiol failed to deal with Luis Fabiano's cross and Frédéric Kanouté pounced to shoot low past Hildebrand. Christian Poulsen made it 2-0 with 18 minutes left before Daniel Alves and Renato combined for their fellow Brazilian Luis Fabiano to add a third goal in the 85th minute. • Vicente Rodríguez finally returned to action for Valencia as a substitute having played just one competitive game for the club since last April. • "We were clearly behind Sevilla, we were the inferior team," said coach Sánchez Flores. "I accept all the responsibility. We have to take a step forward. The most important thing is that the team finds some stability." • Marchena added: "Nothing worked for us, it was a sad defeat. We lost to a great team. When we lose, the responsibility is on all of us. We have to keep working together because we have important games coming up. Above all we need to be patient." • The match proved to be Sánchez Flores's last in charge as he was dismissed in the early hours of 29 October following an emergency board meeting. "After analysing the team's situation, which is considered to be irretrievable after defeats in the league and the UEFA Champions League, the board has decided to dismiss Quique Sánchez Flores," said a club statement. • The former Getafe CF coach, who succeeded Claudio Ranieri in summer 2005, said: "On one hand I feel disappointed but on the other I'm relieved. I want to thank Valencia for giving me the opportunity to coach a top-class team and for giving me enough space to allow me to continue growing as a coach." • Youth team coach Fernández took over first-team duties for Valencia's home match with Real Madrid CF on 31 October. • The change of coach failed to galvanise the team, however, as Madrid ran out 5-1 winners at Mestalla, scoring four times in the first 36 minutes. Raúl González opened the scoring in the second minute and Ruud van Nistelrooy added further goals either side of a Sergio Ramos strike on the half-hour. Miguel Ángel Angulo reduced the deficit two minutes before the hour but Robinho made it 5-1 six minutes later and Valencia's misery was complete when Albiol was dismissed in the 84th minute after a foul on Robinho. • "We allowed them in with a simple [early] goal, the second goal was a mistake by us and in the third we gave away possession with what should have been an easy pass," said Fernández. "It hurts. We have to try and lift the dressing room because we have an important match at the weekend. Today we saw a Madrid team on top of their game and we have to congratulate them." • "When you concede in the first minute it's always difficult trying to get back into the game," added Juan Mata, who left Madrid for Valencia in the summer. "In the first half they were clearly the superior team while in the second things evened out more. Of course the dressing room is down but we have to turn the page and concentrate on our next game.