The visitors are basically defending from within their own penalty area which is allowing loads of space to Valencia's wide players. Can the hosts whip in a decisive cross or can Krasnodar keep the enemy at bay?
90' +1
Parejo plays Piccini into space on the right and the latter's cross fails to make it to Mina in the box. Well defended by Krasnodar.
90'
There will be four minutes of added time.
89'
A. Golubev enters the game and replaces Y. Gazinskiy.
Gazinskiy departs for Krasnodar with Golubev the last player to enter the fray today.
88'
Cheryshev wriggles his way into the box and tries to loft a pass to the back post but it's blocked behind for a Valencia corner.
84'
A lofted ball finds Sobrino in the box but he can only just get his head to it and it flies out of play for a goal-kick to Krasnodar.
81'
F. Coquelin gets yellow.
Coquelin picks up a yellow after the incident as well.
80'
M. Suleymanov enters the game and replaces Wanderson.
K. Olsson gets yellow.
Krasnodar opt for a more direct approach in the final 10 minutes as Suleymanov replaces the more elusive Wanderson.
Olsson picks up a yellow card for leading with his elbow on a Valencia player.
79'
Rubén Sobrino enters the game and replaces K. Gameiro.
Valencia make their final change as Gameiro, who left a chance begging in the first-half, comes off for Sobrino.
Minute
Description
77'
Claesson shapes a shot from outside the box that's deflected and falls to the feet of a Valencia defender who clears the ball away from danger.
76'
Ari plays a lovely chested pass back to Olsson on the run, but the former is called for offside.
72'
A. Martynovich gets yellow.
Martynovich made a half-hearted effort to pull out of a challenge on Soler, but is unable to really do so and is given a yellow card.
70'
D. Cheryshev enters the game and replaces Gonçalo Guedes.
Guedes makes way for Cheryshev who, funnily enough, made his senior debut for the Russian national side in the city of... Krasnodar.
68'
Wanderson plays Petrov on the overlap into the box, but the latter slips at the crucial moment and the chance goes. Creditable that there were no shouts for a penalty from the Russian side there.
65'
Fresh off the assist, Gazinskiy picks up a foul for impeding the progress of Guedes.
63'
V. Claesson has scored a goal for Krasnodar! Assist by Y. Gazinskiy.
Santi Mina enters the game and replaces Rodrigo.
No hat-trick for Rodrigo today as he's withdrawn in favour of Mina.
Gazinskiy did well to pick out Claesson on the run and, after a display of strength to keep the ball, the latter slotted the ball home for Krasnodar!
GOOOALLL! It was certainly coming for Krasnodar, and it's Claesson who gets his side back into this one! He collected the pass from Gazinskiy, showed his strength to keep his defender at bay, and then curled in a lovely left-footed effort past Neto at the near post. Game on! Valencia 2-1 Krasnodar.
55'
Dani Parejo gets yellow.
Ari enters the game and replaces D. Stotskiy.
It's a bit surprising that it's Stotskiy being pulled, but far less surprising to see Ari brought on early as we predicted at half-time.
Parejo picks up a yellow card for a foul on Olsson, and concedes a dangerous free-kick to the Russian side.
53'
Half chance for Krasnodar as Wanderson whipped a low-ball into the box where Petrov, on the run, shot just wide of goal! It feels like a goal is coming for the visitors.
52'
There've been three fouls in the last three minutes with Olsson, Piccini, and Piccini again as the offenders.
49'
A good spell of play for the visitors outside the box now. Wanderson beats his man and makes an incisive pass into Stotskiy who had drifted into the box, but after a series of passes, Valencia intercept the ball and head upfield. Good stuff from Krasnodar, but they'll need to be a bit quicker to shoot if they are to score today.
47'
Krasnodar bookend half-time with corners. Can they make an early mark on the half here?
46'
Orel Grinfeld blows his whistle, Rodrigo passes the ball back, and the second half is underway!
45' +2
Krasnodar win a corner seconds before half-time. Can they make it count?
HALF-TIME: Valencia 2-0 Krasnodar
45'
V. Claesson gets yellow.
Not to be outdone by his teammate Claesson drags down Coquelin in midfield and is shown yellow.
There will be two minutes of added time.
44'
Olsson fouls Parejo in his own half and, in doing so, has committed Krasnodar's 10th foul of the match.
42'
Soler thought he'd been played behind down the right only to see Stotskiy catch up and take the ball off his foot. Great recovery from the left back there!
40'
Wanderson attempts a right-footed shot from outside the box but it's deflected by Lato and goes behind for a corner.
37'
Valencia dominated the early proceedings, but Krasnodar are really finding their footing now with more possession and shots over the last 10 minutes.
33'
Stotskiy paces down the left wing and attempts an early cross that's blocked behind for a corner, their first of the match.
31'
Wanderson pulls out the tricks on the right wing for Wanderson, but eventually a pair of Valencia defenders sandwich him and win the ball back.
24'
Rodrigo has scored a goal for Valencia! Assist by Toni Lato.
Lato, keeping with the trend of modern wingbacks, got himself into an attacking position on the left wing, received a pass from Parejo, and then played a near-perfect ball into Rodrigo who finished the chance to double Valencia's lead!
GOOALLLL!!! Rodrigo picks up his second goal of the match! Parejo played Lato in the space on the left, and the latter cut the ball back to Rodrigo in the box who put his shot across the keeper and buried it into the bottom-right corner. What a match the forward is having already! Valencia 2-0 Krasnodar.
22'
Krasnodar are starting to re-establish possession a bit here as they make a series of passes throughout the defence and midfield.
20'
C. Kaboré gets yellow.
Kabore picks up a foul for a late challenge on Parejo, and picks up a yellow card for his efforts. The Krasnodar midfielder will now be suspended for the second leg.
17'
Stotskiy fouls Soler on the right wing and it will be a free-kick for the hosts.
12'
Rodrigo has scored a goal for Valencia! Assist by K. Gameiro.
GOOOALLLL!!!! Rodrigo gives Valencia the lead with a lovely curling effort! He was found by Gameiro on the right wing, raced past his defender, cut inside, and unleashed a shot from just outside the penalty area that left Safonov grasping at nothing but air. Fantastic finish from Rodrigo that! Valencia 1-0 Krasnodar.
It was technically an assist for Gameiro, though it must be said that he simply passed the ball from around near the centre-circle to an unmarked Rodrigo who then made the run and finish himself. Still counts though!
10'
Valencia were calmly passing the ball around the Krasnodar penalty area until Piccini fials to control a simple pass and it rolls out for a Krasnodar throw. Despite a few small errors, the hosts are definitely looking the more composed and dangerous side thus far.
8'
Guedes made an unmarked run into the left side of the penalty area, was found with a pass, and skied the ensuing shot. He had more time than he realised there!
7'
Parejo tries to toe-poke a pass into Rodrigo in the box, but there just wasn't enough on the pass and the visitors clear.
5'
Lato works his way down to the byline before whipping in a cross that curls out of play before it arrives in the box. Goal-kick to Krasnodar.
4'
The visitors are engaging in an early high press with no less than five players chasing down the ball in Valencia's half.
2'
A long ball is sent in to Rodrigo in the box and he touches it onto Soler who shoots from an acute angle, and sees his shot smothered by Safonov. Early warning shot from Valencia there!
1'
Referee Orel Grinfeld blows his whistle, and this match is under way!
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of this Europa League match between Valencia and Krasnodar!
It’s basically an entirely different team than the one that beat Athletic Bilbao at the weekend with head coach Marcelino Garcia Toral making seven changes to his team. Piccini, Gabriel, Lato, Soler, Coquelin, Guedes, and Gameiro all come into the side today. Rather than making another list of the seven players that dropped out, we’ll simply mention that Neto, Diakhaby, Parejo, and Rodrigo are the players that kept their spots. The latter should play a big part in today’s match seeing as he leads the club in both shots on target (26) and assists (4) in LaLiga this season. Can he fire them to a win against Krasnodar today?
Krasnodar see four players come into the side after their 1-1 draw with Spartak Moscow at the weekend. Spalic, Stotskiy, Olsson, and Wanderson all get the start with Fjoluson and Sulyemanov falling to the bench while Pereyra and Gazinskiy miss out entirely. The influence of the latter will certainly be missed as the Russian pulls the strings of the attack, leading the club in assists (5), and ranking top five in the Russian Premier League in that statistic as well. If Krasnodar are to create much of anything today, they’ll need big days from Stoskiy and Ramirez who, at their best, are both capable of sending in excellent service from the wide areas.
While these two sides have never faced one another before, Krasnodar are no strangers to Spanish opposition having played Sevilla in the group stages (W1, L1). On the whole, this is the fourth time the Russian side have faced a Spanish club in European competition.
Now let's look at the team news!
Valencia (4-4-2): Neto; Cristiano Piccini, Gabriel, Mouctar Diakhaby, Toni Lato; Carlos Soler, Daniel Parejo, Francis Coquelin, Goncalo Guedes; Kevin Gameiro, Rodrigo Moreno.
Valencia substitutes: Denis Cheryshev, Jaume Domenech, Jose Gaya, Santi Mina, Ruben Sobrino, Ferran Torres, Daniel Wass.
Krasnodar (4-3-3): Matvey Safonov; Sergey Petrov, Aleksandr Martynovich, Uros Spajic, Cristian Ramirez; Yuri Gazinskiy, Charles Kabore, Kristoffer Olsson; Dmitriy Stotskiy, Wanderson, Viktor Claesson.
Krasnodar substitutes: Ari, Jon Fjoluson, Artem Golubev, Nikolai Markov, Andrey Sinitsyn, Shapi Suleymanov.
Both sides are lined up as the Europa League anthem rings around the stadium. Not long to go now!
It will be interesting to see how Marcelino sets his side up for the second-half. Do you set up a bit more defensively and try to prevent an away goal, or keep streaming forward and hope to score a third to put the tie to bed? As for Krasnodar, they have to score the next goal in this match so don't be too surprised if we see some early attacking changes from Oleg Fomenko.
That will do it for our live coverage of this Europa League match between Valencia and Krasnodar! We hope you enoyed following along, and will join us again soon!
Valencia will hope to parlay this win into momentum on Sunday when they travel to face Girona who currently sit 13th in LaLiga. As for Krasnodar, they will hope to gain ground in the title race when they host Orenburg who sit just four points above the relegation playoff spots in the Russian Premier League.
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