Almeria vs Valencia preview - Europa League in sight - Keita

Posted Wednesday, March 26, 2014 by PA

Valencia midfielder Seydou Keita is not ruling out his stuttering side's chances of getting back into the Europa League again next season, but concedes their ongoing endeavours in the same competition this term could hamper their prospects.

The 2-1 victory over Villarreal at the weekend ended Valencia's three-match winless run in La Liga and saw them move to within six points behind the Yellow Submarine in seventh.

With nine games still to go, starting with Thursday's trip to relegation-threatened Almeria, Valencia still have time to catch the teams above them and Keita remains hopeful they can do that.

The Mali international, who joined Valencia in January, said: "Anything is possible. What we have to do is keep winning and see if Villarreal slip up.

"We've beaten Villarreal but that won't serve for anything unless we also win in Almeria. The most important thing is to win on Thursday, then we'll have time to talk about getting into the European places."

Valencia may yet get their hands on the Europa League trophy this season as they are through to the quarter-finals, where they face Swiss side Basle in the first leg next week.

Keita concedes, though, that those European commitments could inadvertently affect their domestic goals.

"It's possible. At times we've won in the Europa League and then we've lost in the league. Now we have two leagues games, Thursday and Sunday, and then we will look at the Europa League. The league is what a team's season is judged on," said the 34-year-old, who won three Primera Division titles and two Champions League crowns with Barcelona.

While Valencia still have plenty to look forward to this season, Almeria's only objective is a more desperate one - avoiding the drop.

They had picked up just one point from five matches heading into Monday's home clash with high-flying Sociedad, and while they won that match 4-3 in thrilling fashion, they remain just a point above the bottom three.

Almeria will now be desperate to build on that victory, which saw Khaloua Hicham net a stoppage-time winner, but they will have to do without coach Francisco during Thursday's game.

He must serve a one-match touchline ban at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos after being sent-off against Sociedad.