Tough draw for Spanish sides in the Europa League

While it can be argued that the Champions League draw has been kind to the Spanish teams the same cannot be said of the Europa League one. None of the four can be considered ‘bankers’ and if some don’t improve quickly then they can kiss their trophy winning aspirations goodbye.

Valencia vs Rapid Wien

Gary Neville was unable to stop the side’s rot in the Champions League and a disappointing campaign ended as it started, with a home defeat. There were some positive signs in the draw against Barcelona but that doesn’t disguise the fact a lot of players are underperforming. A lot of blame was thrown Nuno’s way, a lot of it justified, yet Gary Neville is probably realising the size of the task on his hands.

Valencia haven’t won in their last 4 league games and have failed to keep a clean sheet - despite the excellent form of Jaume Domenech - in their last 5. The issue could be eased if the forwards started taking their chances though. Valencia have scored 1 or less in 17 of their 24 matches in all competitions which isn’t good enough for a side with aspirations of finishing in the Top 4.

After being handed a relatively easy draw in the Champions League, Los Che only managed to win 2 matches and lost the other 4. You have to give credit to Gent for an amazing achievement but Valencia were disastrous in far too many games and deservedly didn’t qualify for the knockout stage.

Rapid Wien are enjoying a decent campaign in the T-Mobile Bundesliga and find themselves in 3rd place, 3 points off leaders Salzburg after 20 games. They aren’t doing too great in terms of keeping clean sheets either but unlike Valencia are finding goals easy to come by, averaging over 2.5 at home.

Their Europa League campaign was equally as successful, topping a group which included La Liga rivals Villarreal. The only game Rapid Wien dropped points in was on their trip to El Madrigal.

Verdict: Valencia. This is as close to a 50/50 game as you can find. If the tie was played next week I’d have Rapid Wien down as big favourites, no doubt about it. Yet it’s hard to imagine Valencia continuing to play as bad in two months time. Gary Neville should’ve got his ideas across by then and perhaps one or two changes in January will give the side a lift.

Villarreal vs Napoli

While lady luck shined on most Spanish sides there’s no doubt Villarreal ended up with the most difficult draw out of all of them. Marcelino’s men have beaten Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid at home this season so won’t fear anyone coming to El Madrigal. A poor run of form followed the victory over Atletico but back-to-back league victories means they are just 3 points behind 3rd-placed Real Madrid.

It’s no surprise to see that upturn in form has coincided with the return of Bakambu, back to full fitness after a niggling injury. In the last 3 games the Congolese striker has 3 goals and 1 assist to his name and appears to get the best out of Soldado which means the team carries a greater attacking threat with the duo in it.

Their Europa League campaign got off to a bad start when Marcelino decided to give a lot of reserve players game time. They were guilty of underestimating Rapid Wien and paid the price for it. To their credit, Villarreal responded by winning the next 4 and rounded off the group stage with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Viktoria Plzen.

Napoli are having a great season in Serie A and currently sit in 2nd place behind leaders Inter Milan. They’ve only lost once in 21 games, winning 15 of those. Former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain leads the scoring charts with 14 goals and alongside teammate Lorenzo Insigne [7] they’ve scored 75% of Napoli’s total goals between them.

Verdict: Napoli. The Italians had a perfect record in the Europa League group stages scoring an incredible 22 goals in their 6 matches while only conceding 3. The return of Musacchio will add greater steel to Villarreal’s rearguard but I can’t see them besting Maurizio Sarri’s side.

Athletic Club vs Marseille

It’s been a really strange season for Valverde and Athletic Club. It began with the high of destroying Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup but their start to the season left a lot to be desired and almost went out in the qualifying round of the Europa League. The abandoning of Valverde’s early season rotation policy has coincided with the side playing some great football and catapulted Athletic into the fight for the European places.

Last weekend’s loss to Atletico Madrid ended a run of just 1 loss in 13 - including 9 victories - and it could be argued they were unlucky against Diego Simeone’s men. Raul Garcia has proven to be a fantastic signing, slotting into the attacking midfield role with ease. Iñaki Williams continues to show why he’s thought of so highly at the Basque club with 6 goals already. And if we’re going to talk about goals we can’t ignore Aduriz. The evergreen frontman has scored a 14 in 17 domestically and has 6 in 5 in the Europa League group stage.

Marseille endured a treacherous start in Ligue 1 but have shot up the table in recent months and aren’t too far away from the European places themselves. With just 1 loss in their last 11 matches they’ll be no pushovers. Michy Batshuayi is the man to top for Athletic as he’s got 11 goals so far in Ligue 1 and another 3 in the Europa League.

Verdict: Athletic Club. This game is very similar to the Valencia one in that it’s hard to judge. Marseille are less defensively sound than Athletic and that will probably be the difference. Aduriz, Raul Garcia and Williams will get chances to score so we could be in for a treat over two legs, especially if Batshuayi continues his own scoring form for the French side.

Sevilla vs Molde

Inconsistency has been the key word for all of the Spanish representatives in the Europa League this term. Sevilla are such a tough team to predict at the moment. They’ve deservedly beaten Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia and Juventus at home but that’s off-set by losses to Real Sociedad, Las Palmas and a lucky escape against Rayo Vallecano.

Unai Emery has been reluctant to start Konoplyanka, Krohn-Dehli and Ever Banega which makes little to no sense. The Ukranian international offers a lot more to the team than either Vitolo or Reyes do. His impact always makes an immediate difference and he needs to be given an extended run in the starting XI. Krohn-Dehli is another new signing who has seen his appearances limited so far. Emery has gone for N’Zonzi and Krychowiak in the centre as opposed to the Danish playmaker. Ever Banega has struggled with injuries so the concern with him can be explained to an extent but not when Dehli doesn’t come into the side to replace him.

Fernando Llorente appears to be the man trusted to take over Carlos Bacca’s role as main goalscorer but it hasn’t worked. Kevin Gameiro deserves another chance to prove his worth - his 2 goals at the weekend against Sporting Gijon show he’s a much more well-rounded striker than Llorente.

Molde are in the usual position of having already finished their league. It’ll be interesting to see how fit they’ll be come February, right in the middle of their preseason schedule. Molde finished the season with 5 straight victories that saw them claim 6th place. Winger Mohammed Elyounoussi and striker Ola Kamara will be ones to watch for Sevilla, with the two scoring 12 and 14 respectively.

It’d be wise not to underestimate Molde either - just ask Fenerbahce, Ajax and Celtic. The Norwegian outfit secured away victories in Turkey as well as Glasgow and managed to shut-out Ajax in Holland. A loss at home to Robin Van Persie’s side couldn’t take the gloss off what has been a magnificent European run.

Verdict: Sevilla. I think Molde will prove to be very strong opposition but Sevilla have a love affair with this competition and, on paper, the better side. I think the lack of match fitness will play a factor as well and by the time February rolls around Konoplyanka, Gameiro and Krohn-Dehli should be mainstays in the first team.