Valletta eye treble of titles Published on: 13-12-2018
Valletta and Balzan will battle for the final domestic honour of 2019 when they go head to head for the BOV Super Cup at the National Stadium this afternoon (kick-off: 15.00).
For the Citizens today’s showdown represents a perfect opportunity to inscribe their name on a domestic cup for the third time this year after winning the BOV Premier League and the FA Trophy at the end of the
2018-19 season.
On the other hand, Balzan, who are eligible to play in this year’s Super Cup final after placing second in the Premier League last season, will be determined to finally break duck in terms of domestic honour as they look to win their first-ever trophy in their club’s history.
Valletta start today’s showdown as firm favourites to lift the Super Cup for the 12th time in their club history, especially given the hot-scoring form they are passing through at the moment.
Coach Danilo Doncic made no secret of his club’s ambitions to add another piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet and but is expecting a tough challenge from Balzan.
“For us winning the Super Cup is a very important objective as we want to finish the year with another trophy,” he said.
“I believe that we are passing through a rich vein of form with ten wins and one draws from the last 11 outings, scoring 36 goals and conceding just two. We are going out to give our best to try and win the match and give more cause of celebrations to our new club owners and fans who are always behind us.
“Still, we have great respect for Balzan who are very strong opposition and will offer us a stern challenge. One has to remember that this is a one-off final and we need to ensure that we are at our best.”
Doncic cannot field his strongest formation as defenders Ryan Camilleri and Joseph Zerafa have been ruled out by injury.
While Valletta have been flying in the last few weeks, Balzan have struggled for consistency as a string of injuries to a number of key players saw them struggle to produce their best football.
The return of the influential Kadu has transformed Balzan who come into the match in high spirits after their impressive 3-1 win over Sliema has put them back in the hunt for a late title challenge.
Coach Mark Micovic said that this afternoon’s final provided his players with another opportunity to enter the club record books by winning the first ever honour.
“Each match is important for us but the Super Cup final against Valletta holds huge importance for us as we have the opportunity to bring the first ever trophy to our club and I hope we can grasp this opportunity
with both hands,” Micovic said.
“This season has not been the best for us as at the start of the season we reshuffled our squad and needed time to gel together as a team. We lost some important players to long-term injuries and were forced to make changes to our playing system.
“Now that we have recovered some important players the team is growing in its performances and hopefully we can offer Valletta a stern challenge.
“No doubt that winning the Super Cup will surely be a huge injection of confidence and could kickstart our season.”
Source - Times of Malta
Source - Times of Malta
