La Liga Matchday #33: Valencia CF 0 - 2 Athletic Bilbao Match Thread

The team return to Mestalla to play against Athletic Bilbao in matchday 33 of La Liga. The team will play this game without manager Albert Celades on the sideline, having been sacked by Peter Lim on the 29th. Simply speaking, Lim's experiment failed and has set the team back a few years when they were on the rise for the past 2 years. Valencia will also be missing Ezequiel Garay whose contract expired today with no intention of renewal from the club. Garay has been one of the most solid and consistent players in his time at Valencia, and even with a lack of depth in the center back position, the club decided not to renew.

Voro has stepped in once again as interim coach to see out the season. While Valencia's target of qualifying to the Champions League is not yet mathematically impossible, it is very difficult at the current form of the team. There were many golden opportunities presented to the team as rivals dropped points, but the team did not capitalize on them.

Valencia played a derby against Villareal in the last matchday and suffered a 2-0 defeat away from home. It was one of the most embarrassing performances of the season with the team failing to get a single shot on target. Matter of fact, they struggled to get a shot period. Both goals for Villareal came from complete lack of focus, allowing Alcacer and Gerard Moreno the time and space to be picked out and volley the ball past Cillissen. The team failed to respond in the second half, allowing Villareal to continue to impose themselves on the game with no answer. 

Athletic Bilbao played and defeated RCD Mallorca in their last game, winning 3-1 at home. Despite being a relatively even game, Athletic Bilbao were the most effective in front of goal scoring two goals in the first 24 minutes of the game. Mallorca would get their own penalty in the 70th minute of the game to get themselves into the game before Bilbao put the game beyond them one minute into injury time. 

The last fixture between these two teams earlier in the La Liga season, saw Valencia grab all 3 points against Athletic despite playing away from home. It was one of the better performances of the team. Denis Cheryshev grabbed the only goal of the game in the 27th minute. Maxi played a brilliant through ball from midfield to Ferran Torres who then squared the ball across to the center for Cheryshev to finish.

One point separates Valencia and Athletic Bilbao in the league table. Valencia sit 8th with 46 points and Bilbao a point below them at 9th. It should be said that Valencia is still undefeated at home in La Liga.

SQUAD

Mangala returns to the squad after serving his suspension in the previous game. Diakhaby also returns to the lineup after being cleared by the medical team. Gaya is the notable absence in this game with a hamstring injury that was picked up last game. There is an estimate of 10 days on his return to action. 

Costa starts for the injured Gaya, Florenzi is chosen over Wass, Soler is benched in favor of playing both Guedes and Ferran, and Diakhaby is restored to the team.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Mangala, Wass, Guillamon, Soler, Coquelin, Cheryshev, Kang In, Gameiro, Vallejo, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

12' - Goal for Athletic Bilbao. 0-1. Kondogibia's pass in midfield is poor and gets intercepted by Munain. He picks out Williams on the wing who then squares the ball to set up Raul Garcia's shot which sends Cillissen the wrong way.
19' - Valencia lose the ball at the edge of their area. The time the culprit is Ferran. Cordoba fires at goal but Cillissen just gets a touch on it with his trailing leg. Paulista almost deflects it back it into the goal.
39' - Florenzi puts out a great cross to Maxi Gomez, setting up the best chance for Valencia. Maxi Gomez gets away from his defender and attacks the ball but the header is wide. Maxi needs more of this kind of service. He should do better with the finish though.
45' - Three minutes of stoppage time added by the referee.

HALF-TIME

Well, everyone knew that just removing Celades and having Voro take over would not be enough to cause dramatic change; especially not from the first game. There is clearly plenty of work to get this side back to where they need to be. That is not to say though, that this is even Voro's responsibility. He could've simply been tasked to see out the season and get what he can from it.

As to how the players have taken it, some players, especially Kondogbia and Parejo, seem to be lacking in confidence as they play or weighed down by the stress of this week. Rodrigo seemed to be in this camp as well. Others like Guedes and Ferran, seem unaffected.

The only clear and significant change is the absence of Soler in favor of playing both Guedes and Ferran. They also have both been allowed the freedom to swap flanks whenever they wished.

After the first ten minutes or so of the game where Valencia showed intent to change things, the team very quickly lost confidence and let Athletic Bilbao take control of the game. Guedes had the best chance during that period of time for Valencia, forcing a save from the keeper.

Soon after, Bilbao would take the lead through a dispossession of Kondogbia's pass by Munain. The ball made its way to Williams who simply had to fire the ball across goal where Raul Garcia had managed to get goal-side of Florenzi and slot the ball past Cillissen.

Valencia would be pinned in their own half for the next while but slowly over the course of the half make their way back into the game. Maxi Gomez would be involved in just about all Valencia's chances that would come. He finds the spaces well, attacks them but often the delivery to him is sub-par. The one time he did get a good cross from Florenzi, the finish was poor. This was a problem that Valencia dealt with often, regardless of coach.

Valencia finished the half with the momentum in their favor and on the rise. If they carry it forward, it is very possible to get back into the game and cause serious problems for Bilbao. Voro needs to look to lift his players and instill confidence in those that seem to be lacking it.

Half-time stats. 5-2 shots, 1-1 shots on target, 52-48 %possession.

SECOND HALF

47' - Goal for Athletic Bilbao. 0-2. Jaume Costa tried to play the ball out from the back and sees his pass to Parejo get intercepted. Two quick passes from Bilbao to find Raul Garcia, who looks up, takes a touch and fires from distance, striking it well enough to beat Cillissen. More self-inflicted misery by Valencia.
52' - Williams plays a one-two at the right edge of the Valencia penalty area and sets himself up for a good chance at goal. Jaume Costa puts in a sliding challenge to deny the shot.
54' - Voro needs to make a change soon. Athletic Bilbao are carving out the Valencia midfield and defense with ease time and time again.
61' - Double substitution for Valencia. Ferran Torres and Guedes are both replaced. Cheryshev and Soler are introduced to replace them.
63' - Both substitutions for Valencia have put the ball into the box on their first few touches of the ball. The message must've been: more service into the box.
65' - Athletic Bilbao introduce their own double change. Unai Lopez and Inaki Williams are both replaced. Villalibre and Vesga come on in their place.
67' - Another chance for Valencia gets squandered due to a poor final pass. Cheryshev had spotted the run from Maxi Gomez but overhit the pass.
69' - Cheryshev with a curling cross to the far side and this time it's spot on, finding the head of Maxi Gomez. The header is tame and off target. Needs to do better there.
70' - Cheryshev with another cross with Rodrigo as the target. He finds him but Rodrigo had stepped into an offside position.
72' - Florenzi puts in an early cross to the far post and finds Maxi Gomez. He heads the ball down to Rodrigo who takes a shot and misses. These wasted chance could've had Valencia level already.
74' - Third change for Valencia. Maxi Gomez is replaced by Kevin Gameiro.
81' - Second set of changes for Athletic Bilbao. Munain and Raul Garcia are taken off to be replaced by de Marcas and Sancet.
82' - Yellow card shown to Diakhaby for tripping up the opposition player who had passed him.
84' - Last set of changes from Voro. He replaces both Parejo and Florenzi, bringing on Vallejo and Wass. There is a change of formation to a 4-3-3 to match. Captain's armband is given to Rodrigo.
89' - Final change for Bilbao, Cordoba off, Balenziaga on.
90' - Four minutes of time added by the referee for stoppages.
90+1' - Soler delivers a free kick into the penalty area. Diakhaby contest the keeper for the ball and earns himself a punch as the keeper comes out to deal with the ball. It falls to Gameiro at the edge of the box with the keeper still out of place. He cannot hit the target as the effort is high and wide.

FULL-TIME

Valencia's 17 game unbeaten run at Mestalla is put to an end by Athletic Bilbao. Valencia failed to carry forward the momentum from the latter part of the first half and suffered a second a few minutes into the second half.

This was another self-inflicted goal as the pass out from the back from Jaume Costa was intercepted. A few passes found Raul Garcia who fired from distance and found the goal.

Valencia would remain on the back foot in the game for a while after. This would change after a double substitution from Voro, introducing both Cheryshev and Soler with clear instruction to increase service into the box.

Over the remaining time in the half, cross after cross would be put in, mainly from Cheryshev, with some from Florenzi as well as Soler. The quality of the delivery was varying but mostly positive, however the finishing could not match. It is fair to say that there were enough chances to tie the game, and even further to go for the win. The team still struggles with the finishing though.

It should be said that there was nothing special really about these substitutions, as we have seen similar changes at similar times come from Celades. The difference, however, in their impact came from the instruction to do something different. Substitutions were made to address a problem rather than making changes for changes sake. Replacing Maxi with Gameiro was a result of the poor finishing despite the good supply. The final two changes saw Vallejo and Wass come in, and even a change in formation. This was more of a last-ditch effort to change the tide of the game.

The difference in coaching experience has shown. There were still many aspects of the game that were very poor, especially the finishing. However, it would be unfair to expect these to happen from one game or for these changes to come from Voro in general. He is there simply as an interim coach. If he manages to bring about change, then the next manager can have something to build on. If he doesn't then the manager should have no problem starting from scratch. Heck, they might even do that anyway depending on the changes that come with the transfer market as well as their own vision for the team.

This result sees Athletic Bilbao leap-frog Valencia in the league standings, now sitting at two points ahead at 48 points. The gap to 4th place is now 11 points for Valencia with 6 games remaining in the season. Still not mathematically impossible is what the message will be from the team and management, yet it certainly seems impossible based on form and how many events have to go Valencia's way for it to happen.

Full-time stats. 9-7 shots. 1-4 shots on target, 51-49 %possession.

Next game is on Saturday July the 4th, played away against Granada who, with their result today, are level on points with Valencia. 

Celades sacked

Valencia have just announced that Celades has been sacked. It was fairly inevitable after a number of poor results. Our record since first of February reads 2 wins, 3 draws, 8 defeats. The 5 games since the restart have been mostly awful.

Celades did have some decent results: wins at tricky grounds like Bilbao and good performances in the Champions league in London and Amsterdam, but overall the team lacked consistency. Results away from home were generally poor. There was no defined playing style. Celades seemed to want to go to 4-3-3 but often seemed to lose the courage of his convictions and often fell back into the comfort blanket of 4-4-2. There were some imaginative set piece routines in his early stages but they mysteriously disappeared early on. He was hampered throughout with a constant everchanging injury cast, but never seemed to take steps to address it. Ultimately he seemed to be out of his depth and it remains a mystery to me why some of our fans applauded the sacking of a successful experienced coach and the appointment of such a rookie coach given our past history of disasters and mishaps with such coaches and such quickfire managerial changes. They've never worked and neither did this one. Thanks, Peter Lim.

As ever, Voro will take over, despite some reluctance on his part. Hopefully, lessons will be learned from this debacle (though I'm not so confident of that, as we have an owner who never seems to learn from his mistakes.) The club needs to put in place an experienced coach quickly. If that means appointing someone who can only take over in the new season, so be it. At least they can advise on transfers in the meantime.

La Liga Matchday #32: Villareal CF 2 - 0 Valencia CF Match Thread

This matchday sees Valencia play against a direct rival for the Champions League positions away from home. With Sevilla dropping points earlier to Valladolid, a win this game will give Valencia a better chance at qualification. Valencia cannot afford to keep missing opportunities created by the mistakes of rivals, but must instead look to punish them.

Lots of news surrounding Valencia recently. Celades was rumored to have submitted a resignation which he has denied in his latest press conference, saying that he has not and will not do so. When questioned about the rumors of the loss of confidence and respect of the locker room, he says that he felt very supported and respected at all levels of the organization.

It is also worth noting that this is Valencia's final game before the transfer window officially opens on July 1st. It remains to be seen what changes will come with it but what's clear is that fans want real change in the team. Let's see if that will happen at all, or what form will these changes, if any, come in.

Villareal come into this game having played Sevilla at home in a 2-2 draw at home. Former Valencia striker Paco Alcacer put the home side in the lead a third of the way into the first half before Escudero evened the game 5 minutes from half-time. Villareal would go into the half-time break with a lead following a Pau Torres goal into first half injury time. Another former Valencia player, Munir El Haddadi would grab the final goal of the game mid-way into the second half, leave the two sides with a point each.

Valencia's last matchday against Eibar away from home was a sub-par performance in every way. The team failed to get a shot on target until the last few minutes of regulation time against a team that is fighting a drop into the relegation zone. While the result was only a 1-0 loss, Eibar was allowed to have complete control of the game and Valencia was left chasing the ball. The only goal of the game came from a Kondogbia own goal from a corner that was no dealt with properly. In the final minutes of the game, Mangala received his second yellow card of the game and was sent off.

Villareal currently lead Valencia by two points. They have 48 to Valencia's 46 points. With these point totals, Villareal are 6th in the league while Valencia are 8th.

FORM ***all competitions

Villareal: DWWWL
Valencia: LWLDL

SQUAD

With Mangala missing the game through suspension and Diakhaby out with an injury, one of the two youngsters, Guillamon and Jimenez, are expected to start alongside Paulista for this game. 

In midfield, Coquelin has pushed himself for a quick return and was just cleared to make this lineup. 

After an absence last game for unknown reasons, Sobrino returns to the squad list. 

All else remains the same.

Guedes returns to the bench for this game while Maxi starts. Strangely, neither Coquelin or Kondogbia start. Wass occupies their role instead.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Costa, Jimenez, Kondogbia, Coquelin, Kang In, Guedes, Cheryshev, Vallejo, Gameiro, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

5' - Villareal capitalize on a heavy touch from Gaya following Cillissen's pass, and take possession in an advanced position. Chukuweze cuts inside and takes a shot to the far post, which is just wide.
10' - Another chance for Villareal as Mario Gaspar puts in a cross for Alcacer to head. The effort is wide.
13' - Goal for Villareal. 1-0. It had to be Paco Alcacer. He doesn't celebrate the goal though. Gerard Moreno with a diagonal ball over the defense as Paco stays onside and volleys past Cillissen to the far post.
20' - Villareal are very dominant in this first half. Valencia need to react before they fall further behind.
35' - Ferran had two chances to put in a cross, one for Maxi and one for Rodrigo, but both times he's denied the space to do so. These are the best chances that Valencia has had in this first half which says a lot. So far, not a single shot on or off target.
39' - Alcacer taking a shot at every chance he has. Definitely trying to prove something.
40' - First change for Valencia. Jaume Costa replaces Gaya who seems to have picked up a knock/injury.
42' - Yellow card shown to Guillamon for a pull back on Gerard Moreno who had gotten past him and about to break into the box. Free kick for Villareal.
43' - Cillissen saves the header from Raul Albiol that resulted from the free kick.
44' - Goal for Villareal. 2-0. The goal keeper sends the ball to the opposite end. Santi Cazorla knocks the ball into the air in the direction of Gerard who produces a volley from just inside the box and beats Cillissen.
45' - Four minutes of injury time added by the referee.

HALF-TIME

A complete disaster of a half. The weaknesses were seen in previous games against Levante and Eibar have been amplified and exploited against a bigger team. Despite what was said in the build-up to the game, Villareal came to win and make a statement, Valencia did not. It's difficult to remember when the last time the team turned around a two-goal deficit away from home.

This is another half where Valencia do not have a single shot on target. Even worse, they don't have a single shot at all.

Paco started the game with clear intent to score and he got his wish with a volley. He did not celebrate out of respect for his former side. He did, however, continue to try to take a shot at every reasonable occasion he could, even from a free kick.

Gerard Moreno grabbed the second goal for Villareal in similar style, producing another volley to beat Cillissen.

Chukweze has been a nightmare for the defense. He lurks in the space left behind by Gaya and poses danger with his speed and dribbling.

Unfortunately, Gaya picked up an injury in the final minutes of the half and was replaced by Costa, further adding to the teams woes.

Wass in midfield, is not working and causing more defensive issues than normal. Kondogbia or Coquelin must come on first thing after the break to help stabilize things.

Half-time stats. 11-0 shots, 4-0 shots on target, 56-44 %possession.

SECOND HALF

45' - Celades takes Ferran Torres off the field and brings on Guedes.
49' - Yellow card shown to Jaume Costa for a pull-back on Chukweze who had gotten away from him.
51' - Guedes connects with the ball and puts it across for Parejo whose shot is deflected by a defender over the goal.
53' - Paco gets another shot on target from distance but Cillissen saves.
55' - Parejo managed to find a great through ball to put Soler through but it was called offside. Replay shows that it actually wasn't the right decision. Unfortunate.
60' - This is not looking any better than the first half from Valencia. Celades still holding his substitutions.
64' - Villareal replace Vincete Iborra with Bruno Soriano.
65' - Valencia uses their third change of the game. Parejo off, Kondogbia on. Hopefully, this means Soler plays more centrally and Wass plays wide.
67' - Wass puts in a good delivery from the free kick won by Maxi Gomez. The delivery is just barely behind Maxi. It is called offside anyway.
75' - Villareal comfortable just passing the ball around and having Valencia chase the ball. Valencia cannot win it back. Valencia hasn't shown enough to indicate that a comeback is possible.
79' - Double substitution for Valencia. Kang In and Gameiro come on for Soler and Rodrigo respectively.
80' - Villareal replace Gerard Moreno with Moi Gomez.
84' - Gameiro gets put through on goal from a Kang In Lee through ball. His shot is blocked by the keeper. The offside flag goes up again yet replay shows that it was a questionable decision for the second time.
88' - Three changes for Villareal. Cazorla, Chukwueze and Alcacer come off, Morlanes, Bacca and Ontiveros on respectively.
90' - Five minutes of injury time added by the referee.

FULL-TIME

Total embarrassment of a game. This game on paper is between two rivals. On the field, it couldn't be further from the truth. Villareal showed up, Valencia didn't.

After a first half in which Valencia fell behind 2-0 thanks to volley goals from Alcacer and Moreno, Valencia had it all to do in the second half. Yet, all that was seen was more of the same. No sense of urgency, responsibility or ownership of the situation.

Javier Calleja is screaming directions at his team to maintain focus, and Celades is looking lost and silent on the sidelines. You wouldn't be able to guess whose team was winning based on their reactions. The difference in coaching is clear.

It is looking really difficult for Valencia to qualify to Champions League at this point. Mathematically, still possible with 7 games remaining. But with the way the team is playing, it seems beyond grasp. The suspension of the league was an opportunity to reclaim injured players, gather thoughts and reflect on the failures and success of the season in hopes of improvement. There doesn't seem to be an improvement to speak off despite the reclaimed players.

Full-time stats. 15-2 shots. 4-2 shots on target. 52-48 %possession.

Next game is another tough match. Valencia play at Mestalla against Athletic Bilbao on July 1st. Coincidentally, it's the day the transfer market opens.

Player discontent with Celades growing

Various stories are coming through that Celades has lost the dressing room and the respect of the players after a number of incidents.

The first situation seems to have been with Diakhaby. Following his last game, Diakhaby said that he'd had a productive chat with the coach, something which the coach confirmed at the time. However, later Celades was more critical of the player, blaming him (not without justification) for costing the team 2 points. Worse, commentator Pichi Alonso released a story saying that "club sources" had told him that Celades had met with Diakhaby, shown him a video of his errors and this had ended with Diakhaby leaving the meeting in tears. Diakhaby, through L'Equipe, flatly denied this. The bigger problem was that the feeling was that the leak could only have come from Celades, meaning that he was backstabbing his players. While Diakhaby will have little sympathy among Valencia's fanbase, things like this will seriously undermine the trust of players in the coach.

The second blow-up was with Maxi Gomez. Following the Osasuna game, Maxi got frustrated with the coach, asking why he was always the first subbed off. Discussions became so heated that allegedly Maxi aimed a headbutt at Celades and had to be restrained. He turned up at the next training session in apologetic manner, but was given a cold shoulder by Celades and told to go home, further angering him.

After being told that Maxi wouldn't feature in future games, other members of the squad got angry, seeing him as a key player. Ferran Torres posted a message of support for Maxi on Instagram.

The club's captains met with sporting director Cesar Sanchez reaching agreement that Maxi would not be ostracised and would instead be fined. However, the mood following the meeting didn't seem to improve. Kondogbia posted on Instagram shortly afterwards: "¿El traidor? Es como una serpiente, pica y se esconde…" (The traitor? It's like a snake, it bites and then hides...") a message which seems to be aimed at the coach.

Celades' substitutions in general seem to be causing frustration. Guedes was visibly angry after being subbed off while having his best game of the season versus Osasuna. Another player who seems to getting annoyed is Ruben Sobrino. 4 of his last 6 appearances have seen him play 1 minute (twice), 2 minutes and 4 minutes. While Sobrino is below the level Valencia need, the player seems to be arguing, not unreasonably, that such brief cameos are pointless, as he has no chance to prove himself and make an impact on the game. His annoyance came to the fore in the Osasuna game, when the manager sent him out to warm up with 86 minutes played. Sobrino, given all the previous, got angered and Celades responded by not bringing him on.

Of course, a contrary opinion to this could be that the players should simply man up and accept the coach's substitute decisions. If it were one or two players, this would go fine, however annoyance seems to go throughout the squad now, with numerous players at odds with the coach. That never ends well. When I wrote my review of the season a few posts ago I said that Celades would probably be in the hotseat after the summer. Not only does that look unlikely now, there are serious questions over whether he can even make it to the end of the season. The team plays without direction, Celades' subs often don't make sense and the below par performances from the players are probably affected by growing dislike of the coach. Champions league is out now and even Europa starts to look like a struggle. Hopefully the owner will draw the necessary conclusions and hire an experienced coach to take us forward.

***Edit/update*** Stories that Celades offered his resignation to the club last night, but this was turned down. His days seem to be numbered.

La Liga Matchday #31: SD Eibar 1 - 0 Valencia CF Match Thread

Valencia travel to play Eibar where they will look to build on the three points they have gathered from last week's matchday against Osasuna. With Sevilla and Villareal playing out a 2-2 draw earlier, Valencia will also looked to close the gap on their Champions League rivals.

Eibar come into this game following a 1-1 away draw to Getafe. The away team would concede first in the 30 minute, but would manage a comeback in the 6th minute of first-half stoppage time to even out the score. A fairly even game overall.

Valencia put out one of the best first half performances of their season against Osasuna three days ago. They managed to score three goals with Rodrigo scoring two goals, the first of which was ruled out for offside after a 3 minute VAR review, much to the frustration of the team who had submitted a complaint about unjust VAR rulings. Guedes scored in the window between Rodrigo's goal, displaying some of his better form by staying on his feet as he was pressured by 3-4 Osasuna players before cutting inside and firing in between two more to the top right corner of goal. Unfortunately, the second half saw a massive drop in performance. This was party due to the tactical change from Osasuna, going from 5 at the back to 4, which went unaddressed by Celades, as well as the subsequent substitution of Kondogbia who was controlling the midfield. This resulted in surrendering all control of the game to Osasuna and exposing the Valencia back line to lots of pressure. Fortunately, Paulista was there to aid Cillissen's efforts in keeping the opposition at bay. Valencia had a few glimpses of goal on the counter attack but couldn't produce the final product.

The previous fixture between these two teams in La Liga was played at Mestalla and ended 1-0 for Valencia. Maxi Gomez grabbed the only goal of the encounter, finishing with a header to meet the cross provided by Wass.

Eibar currently sit at 17th with 29 points, 3 off Mallorca who are in the relegation zone. Valencia are 8th with 46 points, 7 points off 4th place Sevilla.

FORM ***all competitions

Eibar: DDLLL
Valencia: WLDLD

SQUAD

A few changes in the squad list. Gaya and Kang In both return to the list, having served their suspensions. Meanwhile, Diakhaby has picked up a training injury (muscular discomfort) and misses this game as a result, with Javi Jimenez taking his spot. Coquelin is also still recovering from his injury, giving Esquerdo another call-up.

In the starting XI, Celades gives Guillamon a rest and calls on Mangala to play alongside Paulista. He continues his alternation of responsibilities in right-back with Wass starting over Florenzi this time. Finally, he opts to keep Maxi Gomez on the bench and will play both Guedes and Ferran in the same team, with the latter playing in the front two alongside Rodrigo.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Costa, Florenzi, Jimenez, Guillamon, Cheryshev, KangIn, Esquerdo, Gameiro, Vallejo, Gomez

FIRST HALF

5' - Eibar are pressing high up the pitch forcing Mangala and Cillissen into awkward position and pressuring them to make rash clearances.
10' - Valencia still having trouble getting out of their own half. Players are forced into mistakes and are giving away possession under pressure.
12' - Valencia can't afford to keep sending these long balls up the field with no target man to receive.
16' - Goal for Eibar. 1-0. Kondogbia puts the ball into his own net following an Eibar corner. The delivery had went over Rodrigo's head, past Mangala and onto the path of Kondogbia. Unfortunate goal to concede.
21' - Good chance for Valencia. Wass finds Ferran in the box with a pass from a wide position. Ferran turns and passes to Guedes who lets the ball run through to Gaya on the opposite end who had found some space for a shot. The shot is wide.
26' - Yellow card show to Escalante for a late challenge on Kondogbia.
27' - Ferran with a fine bit of skill, taking on two defenders and slipping through the space between them. He sends a tantalizing ball towards the far post but Rodrigo cannot meet it as it took a slight deflection for a corner.
32' - Another chance for Valencia as Soler finds the overlapping run of Gaya into the box. The Eibar defender tugs on Gaya's arm bringing him down. The referee ignores the claims of a penalty, signalling for Gaya to get up.
40' - Just when the team had worked up a good attacking move, Parejo's pass to Wass misses its mark, letting Eibar off the hook.
45' - Three minutes added for stoppages.

HALF-TIME

Not good enough, although kind of expected. Valencia normally do this strategy away from home, where they concede complete control to the opposition and are content with absorbing pressure. In the second half, is when the team attempts to actually starts playing. At home, the strategy is reversed where the team plays their game in the first half and sometimes gets a goal, and then they sit back and let the opposition do their thing.

Eibar had almost complete possession in the first 15 minutes or so of the game with Valencia forced to clear haphazardly when they did end up in possession due to Eibar's high pressing. Unfortunately, this strategy does not work without a target man. Maxi Gomez is on the bench, so Rodrigo tried to fill that role and not very successfully at that.

The goal for Eibar would come from a corner delivery which was not dealt with and had slipped through all the way to Kondogbia who sent it past his own keeper. Mangala was in the best position to clear but he missed the ball altogether.

The team would get more possession with some chances. However, Valencia barely posed a threat to the Eibar goal with the chances being squandered either due to poor finishing such as with Gaya's effort or a breakdown in the attacking play as a result of poor passing.

Half-time stats. 5-2 shots, 3-0 shots on target, 40-60% possession.

SECOND HALF

46' - First change for Valencia. Soler is replaced by Gameiro. Guedes and Ferran will play the wide positions while Gameiro joins Rodrigo in attack.
53' - Ferran finds Gaya's overlapping run on the left. Gaya quickly squares the ball to Rodrigo whose  shot is is just wide of goal. He seems to have lost his footing at a critical moment before striking the ball.
56' - Gaya with a sliding to challenge to deny Correa's shot at goal.
57' - Valencia is trapped in their own half just like in the first half and is suffering under the pressure.
58' - Yellow card is shown to Mangala for a late challenge. Free kick in a decent position is awarded to Eibar.
59' - The shot from the free kick was dipping just below the cross bar but fortunately Cillissen push it over.
62' - Double substitution for Valencia. Guedes is replaced by Cheryshev and Wass is replaced by Florenzi.
68' - The team cannot string together more than 2-3 passes at a time before giving away possession.
72' - Florenzi cannot hit the target despite receiving the ball at a good position in the box. Parejo had found him wide, he then plays a short pass to Ferran and makes a run into the box where Ferran finds him again. It's a shame he couldn't hit the target.
74' - Yellow card shown to Charles Dias for shoulder checking Kondogbia.
77' - A member of Valencia's technical team is shown a red card by the referee for dissent.
78' - Double substitution for Eibar. Sergi Enrich and Cristoforo come on to replace Charles Dias and Pedro Leon respectively.
80' - Yellow card shown to Sergi Enrich for a late sliding tackle on Kondogbia.
82' - Exposito puts in a good cross for Sergi Enrich who gets good contact, heading the ball towards the far post. Cillissen keeps Valencia in the game by parrying the effort with the tip of his hand.
83' - Yellow card is shown to Orellana for time wasting.
84' - Final change for Valencia. Ferran Torres is replaced by Maxi Gomez.
86' - Gaya plays the ball over the Eibar defenders to pick out Gamerio who tees up Cheryshev. The shot is too high this time and Eibar escapes the pressure again.
89' - Second yellow card shown to Mangala, followed by the red. He is sent off the field of play. It seemed like a 50/50 jump for the ball. It is a bit harsh.
90' - Six minutes of injury time added by the referee.
90+2' - Final change for Eibar. Sergi Alvarez replaces Kike Garcia.

FULL-TIME

Still not good enough. A single shot on target the entire game against a team that is fighting for survival this season. Yet again, when rivals slip up in the league, the team fails to take advantage of the situation and end up giving up points. The team remains 7 points away from 4th place Sevilla.

Exactly the same story as the first half. Control was surrendered to Eibar and any glimpse of a chance was wasted by poor finishing or a bad pass in build up. Some of the basics continue to elude this team. The result against Osasuna seems like a one-off based on the performance today, rather than a cause for optimism.

To top it off, Mangala has managed to get himself sent off in the final minutes of the second half further causing further complications to the center-back situation this season. The good that comes from this is that, baring an unexpected injuries, Guillamon and Paulista should start again next match with Jimenez providing cover if needed.

Full-time stats. 14-6 shots,  6-1 shots on target, 46-54% possession.

Next match is on Sunday the 28th, away against Villareal. An important match, although with the result today the struggle is harder regardless of a result there.

La Liga Matchday #30: Valencia CF 2 - 0 CA Osasuna Match Thread

Nine games left...one game every three days for about a month. That's how much time Valencia has to overcome the poor run of form, overcome a 6 point gap to fourth place and make the Champions League.

To many fans, this achievement is far-fetched especially given the poor quality they have seen from the team. There are many signs of troubling times: contract issues, disciplinary problems, loss of motivation and most importantly no results. For now, the owner stays silent and it remains to be seen what his next move will be.

Valencia played their previous game away from home against Real Madrid. The first half was a relatively good performance from the team. They caught Real Madrid off-guard and reduced their efforts to tame shots from distance which Cillissen used as catching practice. The team struck the post (Rodrigo's shot) and even went ahead with a goal from Rodrigo but it was controversially ruled offside after extensive review by VAR. Maxi Gomez was ruled to have interfered with play from an offside position in the build up to the goal. Rodrigo, Maxi Gomez and Celades have all spoken against the ruling alongside many other players from other teams. The second half had the team lose motivation and drop their performance several levels in disappointment about the two missed opportunities. A miscommunication between Wass and Gameiro resulted in a counter-attack that ended in a Benzema goal, Asensio scored a corner-kick delivery seconds after coming on, and Benzema would finish off Valencia after controlling a cross and smashing it into the net.

Osasuna suffered an even heavier defeat in the last matchday. Despite playing at home, they lost 0-5 to Atletico Madrid. Joao Felix scored the visitors only goal in the first half, and scored again 30 minutes from full-time before Llorente, Morata and Carasco added to the tally.

The match between these two teams earlier in the season ended in a 3-1 home win for Osasuna. Valencia did take the lead through Rodrigo in the 14th minute. Rodrigo would then be shown a red card 15 minutes which was a catalyst for Osasuna to get back into the game. They equalized within 5 minutes of the red card, took the lead quickly after half-time and finished the game off 10 minutes from full-time.

Valencia come into this game in 8th with 43 points while Osasuna sit at the 13th position with 35 points.

FORM ***all competitions

Valencia: LDLDW

Osasuna: LDWLL

SQUAD

The good news is that Paulista is back in the squad. He will probably play alongside Guillamon who has shown some potential at the back in the past two games. This might be Celades's preferred set up at the back for the rest of the season with Garay probably not playing again for the team and both Mangala and Diakhaby being unreliable.

In bad news, Gaya and Kang In will both miss this game with suspensions. The former due to accumulation of yellow cards, while the latter due to his red card in the previous game. Additionally, Coquelin picked up an injury in the final minutes of the Real Madrid fixture and will miss this game as a result. Esquerdo and Pablo Gozalbez from the Valencia youth team join the first team to make up the numbers.

Luckily, it seems that the injury to Maxi Gomez that was talked about by Rodrigo in the post-interview seems to be not that serious, hence his appearance in this lineup. 

It will be interesting to see if Celades will give Vallejo, Sobrino or Cheryshev any prolonged game play or if he will look to maintain a similar team to the ones seen in the previous two games.

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Mangala, Diakhaby, Wass, Cheryshev, Ferran, Esquerdo, Pablo Gozalbez, Gameiro, Vallejo, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

2 - GOAL VALENCIA! Rodrigo puts Valencia ahead. Florenzi played a well-hit lob behind the defense for Rodrigo to run onto on the right flank. He runs towards the goal line, looks up and decides to cut inside and slot it past the keeper. Maxi Gomez and Soler did well to distract the defenders by making runs into the box.
5' - Back to 0-0! VAR has spent 3 minutes checking the goal for offside. It has just been overruled again. The team cannot get demotivated by this like last game. They must keep going. Strange that this time they didn't even show the VAR decision lines for offside and went straight back into the game.
9' - They just showed the VAR decision lines and it looks like Rodrigo's arm is just a fraction ahead of the opposition defender that's furthest back.
11' - GOAL VALENCIA! 1-0! Guedes some individual piece of skill following the pass from Jaume Costa. He takes on the first defender beats him and is on his way to ground after some contact. He perseveres forward, barely maintaining his footing, beating a second and third defender and making his way into the penalty area. He cuts towards the center and fires between two defenders to the top right corner. This is what Guedes is capable of when he plays boldly and takes on defenders. A typical Guedes goal. This is what he was brought in to do. Hopefully, this gives him confidence to do more.
14' - VAR spent the last three minutes checking this goal also. There was no reason to do so. It's almost like they're looking for a reason to rule out these goals. The decision finally goes in Valencia's favor.
21' - Parejo picks out the run of Florenzi on the right flank. He puts in a great cross which Rodrigo controls and fires towards goal but the defender got his body in the way.
26' - Yellow card shown to Guedes for hitting a defender in the face with flailing arms
35' - GOAL VALENCIA! 2-0! A misplaced pass Osasuna lands at the feet of Guedes in an advanced position, setting up a 3 on 3 at the back for Osasuna. Guedes threads a pass through for Rodrigo who had made a run into the box. Rodrigo pokes the ball past the advancing keeper. Good to see the team finally take advantage of the mistakes of other teams.
45' - Six minutes of stoppage time added by the referee.
45+5' - Adrian cuts inside from the left and forces Cillissen to parry, resulting in a corner. The corner delivery is headed away by Maxi Gomez.

HALF-TIME

Good first half over all with the result to show for it. Osasuna don't look anywhere near the side they were in the first encounter between these teams. Their defense has been shaky and full of gaps and their offense cannot seem to find any gaps or chances in the Valencia defense.

One can point to the fact that the quality of opposition is the reason why Valencia has walked away with this advantage in the first half. That much is clear. In the same vein though, Valencia has also been in poor form and often struggled against teams of all levels. So this is progress. 45 minutes of progress. Everyone is aware though that Valencia can show drastically different forms across halves.

Rodrigo started off the scoring for the third time since the restart but had it ruled offside yet again. This time, the team didn't let it get to their heads and continued to play with the same intensity. Guedes found a spark of his top form and demonstrated his ability to to take on players, beat them and produce a quality shot to top it off. Rodrigo would get his chance again 10 minutes from regulation time, set up by Guedes who had been in the right place at the right time to take advantage of an Osasuna misplaced pass. The pass to Rodrigo was well hit and well timed, leaving Rodrigo with the simple task of poking it past the keeper which he did.

The defense and keeper have looked largely untroubled by Osasuna and have yet to be tested. It would be great if they could maintain focus and see out a clean sheet to build confidence and establish this pairing as starters.

Half time stats. 4-3 shots, 3-1 shots on target, 55-45 %possession.

SECOND HALF

46' - Three changes for Osasuna. Cardona, Navas and Perez are taken off. Gallego, Roberto Torres and Ruben Garcia are brought on in their place.
52' - Soler with a shot at goal but it's blocked by the keeper
53' - Osasuna return the favor with a shot by Ruben Garcia. Cillissen can only parry.
58' - First change by Valencia, Kondogbia off, Wass on.
64' - Yellow card shown to Estupinan for a late challenge on Maxi Gomez
65' - Paulista with a great challenge to deny the advancing Osasuna attacker in the penalty area
66' - Two more changes from Valencia. Guedes and Maxi Gomez are replaced by Ferran and Cheryshev respectively. Guedes seems visibly frustrated with the decision. He has a yellow card so it's a reasonable substitution. He has done well this game.
69' - Osasuna's coach uses another substitution, bringing on Merida for Darko
71' - Osasuna with their best chance yet. Oier meets the cross from Torres with a header from a good position but it's wide of goal.
75' - A good chance for Valencia on the counter attack. Parejo had won possession and found Cheryshev on the left flank. Ferran had made an excellent run between the center backs but the pass was over hit and the chance goes to waste.
77' - Last change for Osasuna. Adrian Lopez is replaced by Arnaiz
81' - Space opens up for Osasuna to counter attack after dispossessing Ferran Torres. The cross comes in from the left flank and Cillissen does just enough to get in the way of the opposition forward to deny him the chance at a shot.
83' - Paulista steps in again to deny the shot at goal following a cross. The ball safely goes out of play for a corner.
85' - Yellow card shown to Ruben Garcia for leaning into Ferran Torres while jumping.
87' - Osasuna put in another dangerous cross. Arnaiz manages to squeeze the low cross in past Guillamon, aiming for Gallego. His shot is wide.
89' - Final change for Valencia. Rodrigo is taken off and Esquerdo is brought on in his place.
90' - Cheryshev kickstarts a counterattack for Valencia, picking out Ferran Torres on the left side and continuing his run forward. Ferran drives forward, cuts insides and crosses past Cheryshev towards Soler. The Osasuna defender gets in the way of the cross and it falls to Cheryshev who gets the shot on target but it's easy for the keeper to deal with. Five minutes added for stoppages by the referee.


FULL-TIME

An important three points for Valencia and a clean sheet to top it off. Despite a drastic drop in performance in the second half, the team managed to see the game out.

Osasuna changed tactics in the second half. Taking off one defender in their 5-man back line in favor of a more attacking lineup. It worked well and the Valencia midfielders had a lot on their plate to deal with, often getting pressured off the ball and having their passes intercepted. This was made even worse when Kondogbia was taken off in the 58th minute, with his replacement Wass, not offering as much defensive prowess.

Paulista and Gulliamon were suddenly being tested where in the first half they weren't troubled much. Paulista especially has saved the team by dealing with many dangerous crosses that made their way to their target in the penalty area. Cillissen also did his part in intervening when he could. It was good to see that this backline is capable of withstanding the pressure. However, it is not a wise idea to concede complete control of the game completely to the opposition, even if it is Osasuna. This could very well be punished in future games.

Offensively, with Guedes and Gomez off, Ferran and Cheryshev posed the danger for Valencia in the few occasions that they had on the counterattack. Most notably, the run for Ferran which was missed by Cheryshev's cross, and the cross from Ferran which was chested down by an Osasuna player towards Cheryshev only to be hit towards the keeper.

It should be noted that there was another controversial VAR moment 2 minutes into the first half, when Rodrigo had put the team into the lead. In the post-match interview, Rodrigo was vocal yet again that he feels the VAR has denied himself and his team of plenty of opportunities. It was also strange that even Guedes's goal had 3 minutes spent in review when there was no point of contention at all. The game could have easily been 3-0 at the end of the first half.

The next game for Valencia is Thursday the 25th of June away to Eibar. Hopefully, the bit of good in today's game carries forward and the coach addresses as much of the bad as possible before the next game. Amunt.

La Liga Matchday #29: Real Madrid CF 3 - 0 Valencia CF Match Thread

After narrowly missing out on the three points in the last matchday, Valencia travel to Madrid where they will play the second place team in the league.

This game will also be played behind closed doors with the precautions and adjusted rules that were observed in the previous matchday. As a reminder:

1. Teams will now by allowed up to 5 substitutions instead of 3. 
2. There is a limitation that these substitutions can only be made over 3 occasions (not including half-time) to avoid time wasting and disruption. 
3. Teams will also be allowed a squad of 23 instead of 22 players. 
4. Finally, 12 players will be available on the bench for selection instead of the usual 7.

Real Madrid should be a much tougher game at every level. They are a high caliber team and the game is played away from home where Valencia have struggled time and time again this season. The game will not be played at the Bernabeu though, but rather at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano since Real Madrid will be upgrading their current stadium.

Real Madrid come into this game on the back of a 3-1 home against Eibar on the 14th. Their 3 goals all came in the first half with Eibar's goal coming in the second as a result of a fortunate deflection.

Valencia played out an average game against Levante with many of the flaws that were seen earlier in the season persisting on in this game. Rodrigo did manage to grab a goal in the final couple of minutes of regulation time before Diakhaby threw away the lead by giving away an unnecessary penalty in stoppage time. Throughout the week, some of his colleagues joined Celades in defending him from public criticism.

These two teams had two encounters so far this season. The first was the La Liga fixture at Mestalla that ended in 1-1 draw. Carlos Soler had put Valencia in the lead in the 78th minutes and they were set to win until the 6 minute of stoppage time when Benzema managed to find the net to deny the three points to Valencia. The second occasion was in the Spanish Super Cup match that was played 2-3 weeks after in Saudi Arabia. Valencia did not look too interested in that game and suffered a 3-1 defeat. Real Madrid completely dominated the game, scoring 2 in the first half, and one in the second whereas Valencia's only goal came from an injury time Parejo penalty.

Real Madrid currently sit second in the league with 59 points while Valencia are 8th with 43 points.

FORM ***all competitions

Real Madrid: WLWLL
Valencia: DLDWL

SQUAD

Similar squad list to last week with Paulista, Garay and Piccini missing the game due to injury.

Kondogbia returns to the list having served his 1-game suspension due to accumulated bookings. His addition results in Javi Jimenez being forced out of the squad list. He is chosen over Coquelin to start in this game.

Guillamon maintains his spot in the starting XI but will be joined by Mangala instead of Diakhaby. A worrying sign but Celades probably wanted to send a message to Diakhaby and/or go for more experience against this Real Madrid team.

Elsewhere, Wass returns to the starting lineup instead of Florenzi, Ferran is preferred over Guedes and, just like last game, Maxi Gomez complements Rodrigo in attack.

Bench: Domenech, Costa, Diakhaby, Florenzi, Thierry, Coquelin, Guedes, Cheryshev, Kang-In, Gameiro, Vallejo, Sobrino

FIRST HALF

3' - Real Madrid having the majority of possession this early in the game. Casemiro has attempted a shot from distance but Cillissen smothers the shot.
10' - Real Madrid on the counter attack get another chance at goal. Benzema's wide run is followed by a pull-back for Toni Kross who shoots but Cillissen saves.
11' - Another chance for Real Madrid as Kross squares the ball for Benezema who does the same in turn for Hazard yet Cillissen saves again.
12' - Toni Kross with another shot from distance and Cillissen is equal to it again.
14' - Maxi Gomez turns and picks out Rodrigo with a through ball into space sending Rodrigo through on goal. He has time to look up and set up his shot, aiming at the far post and does exactly that, hits the post. Good chance for Valencia. Replay shots a slight touch from Courtois that denied Rodrigo.
16' - Hazard tests Cillissen from distance again and Cillissen saves.
20' - Goal for Valencia is overturned. Rodrigo had put Valencia ahead. The play started with a loose ball following a defelection from Gaya's cross. Soler gathers, turns and sends the ball into the box towards Maxi Gomez, who appeared to flick the ball to Rodrigo who had started the run when Soler had possession. Rodrigo gets onto the ball in plenty of space and has no trouble beating Courtois from this range. VAR checks for a long time, calls the referee over and after some contemplation overturns the goal for offside on Maxi Gomez. It was by a hair and denies Valencia from the lead. It's back to 0-0.
22' - Yellow card shown to Gaya for protesting the VAR decision.
29' - Carvajal gets past Soler at the edge of the Valencia box, and runs through to the space between Mangala and Gaya, setting up a 1 on 1 against Cillissen. Mangala attempts to pressure him and narrow his angle which made the save from Cillissen a bit easier.
43' - Kondogbia decides to try his own shot from distance at Courtois and hits it with enough power that the keeper couldn't catch it and could only parry it.
45' - Five minutes of stoppage time added by the referee.
45+4' - Benzema breaks through towards goal, released by Hazard. Guillamon puts in a sliding challenge that nullifies the danger.

HALF-TIME

This half has actually been relatively good from the Valencia perspective. Real Madrid no doubt had the majority of chances and possession but it was all tame. Every shot was hit straight at Cillissen. Valencia dealth with a period of intense pressure from the opposition but absorbed it well. On the other hand, Valencia has managed to hit the post and score a goal that was overruled after 3-4 minutes of checking by officials and the referee before the judgement was made.

Real Madrid seemed mostly uninterested in penetrating the Valencia defense and instead opted for long range efforts from Hazard and Kroos. This was strange especially since Valencia didn't have their 2 first choice center backs, Paulista and Garay. It was expected that Madrid would be a lot more bold and put lots of pressure on Mangala and Guillamon, both of whom haven't played much this season. Guillamon had a 2 good tackles, one to deny Modric from advancing into the box early in the half and one at the very end to derail Benzema from his run into the box. He has also put in a few good passes forward to kick start some Valencia plays. The commentary team was certainly impressed with him, calling him fearless against Real Madrid and pointing to the fact that he is a two-time World Champion with the Spanish youth team.

Valencia's offensive transition, facilitated by Kondogbia, Parejo and Maxi Gomez who had dropped back, caught Madrid off-guard on multiple occasions. Ferran and Gaya have also done well to exploit the space left by the Madrid full-backs, with the former forcefully taken down multiple times.

The final product is still missing and is usually Valencia's biggest issue. The overruled goal was too close to call as offside and is definitely a step in the right direct. Hopefully, the team continue to put pressure on Real Madrid as this looks very winnable based on how the first half went.

Half-time stats. 9-2 shots, 8-2 shots on target, 56-44% possession.

SECOND HALF:

49' - Ferran continues to be taken down every time he touches the ball, first by Mendy a few minutes ago and now by Hazard
58' - Double substitution for Valencia, Ferran off for Guedes and Maxi off for Gameiro.
60' - Goal for Real Madrid. 1-0. A miscommunication between Gameiro on the right flank and Wass who had made his way forward, gives possession away to Real Madrid on the counterattack. Hazard plays a one-two with Modric, takes on Guilliamon and gets the pass through to Benzema despite the youngester's sliding tackle. Benzema has no trouble beating Cillissen from that range and with that much space.
65' - Hazard makes a run across the edge of the Valencia box and tees up Modric for a shot which Cillissen can only parry for a corner.
68' - Celades will use two more changes. Soler is taken off for Cheryshev and surprisingly Parejo is replaced by Coquelin.
70' - Mangala does well to keep up with and win the ball from Hazard who had been played into tons of space.
73' - Real Madrid's first substitution is Asensio, he comes on for Valverde.
74' - Goal for Real Madrid. 2-0. Asensio scores within seconds of coming on. The corner from Kross makes it clear to the opposite flank to Mendy. He takes out Wass with his pace and pulls the ball back for Asensio who curls the ball away from Cillissen and into the net.
76' - Valencia's final change sees Rodrigo come off for Kang-In Lee.
82' - Second change for Real Madrid. Vinicius Jr comes on to reokace Hazard.
83' - Vinicius outpaces Guillamon, gets into space and puts in a cross into the box. Gaya had to cut across to deal with it.
84' - Yellow card shown to Guillamon for handball. Free kick given away in a dangerous position.
85' - Kroos is on-target from the free kick and Cillissen is forced to tip it over the crossbar.
86' - Goal for Real Madrid. 3-0. Guedes gets dispossessed at the edge of the Madrid area by Casemiro, setting up a counterattack. Kroos carries the ball forward and attempts a pass which deflects fortunately for Asensio out wide. He puts in a cross to Benzema in the center who takes it down with his right foot around Guillamon and scores in the top-left corner with his opposite foot.
89' - Red card shown to Kang-In for continuously clipping at the heels of Ramos.
90' - Four minutes of stoppage time added by the referee.

FULL-TIME

A disgrace of a second half. The team that showed up in the first was no where to be seen in the second. Madrid was allowed all the time and space on the ball. When you're complacent against Real Madrid, you get punished and this second half was a punishment.

Valencia didn't have a single shot, on or off-target in the second half while Real continued their intensity from the first half. Based on that, there was no way to win this game.

The miscommunication between Wass and Gamerio led the first goal. A completely avoidable mistake that was taken advantage of by Real Madrid. After that, the team just shut down and many players stopped trying. This was also on the back of Valencia introducing Guedes and Gameiro onto the field in an attempt to catch Madrid on the counter as with the first half. With the lead established, Madrid had no need to come forward. They were content to have Valencia chase the ball and sought to tire them out.

Taking off Parejo signaled a defensive mindset and an intent to sit back and let Madrid come forward. Even when Kang In was introduced as the final substitution, he was instantly caught sleeping in midfield. It seems the motivation is lacking heavily from everyone even the youngsters.

Madrid made only 2 changes while Valencia used all 5 but the Real Madrid squad still played with more energy and intensity.

To top off this result, Kang In got himself sent off for a rash series of challenges on Ramos, Coquelin picked up and injury in the final minutes of the game and according to Rodrigo in the post-game interview, Maxi was also taken off due to injury.

We have seen multiple players now, especially younger players, show a lack of discipline. This definitely needs to be addressed and is a clear sign of unrest within the team.

Full-time stats. 17-2 shots, 14-2 shots on target, 61-39 %possession.

Next game for Valencia is on Sunday the 21st at Mestalla against Osasuna.

La Liga Matchday #28: Valencia CF 1 - 1 Levante UD Match Thread

After slightly more than 2 months of suspension due to health risk posed by COVID-19, La Liga finally returns for its 28th matchday. While play has resumed, safety precautions are still in effect and will be evident by the empty stadium and the way which players interact (handshakes, hugs, etc). Valencia has already played a game behind closed doors in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Atalanta. Many fans showed up to support Valencia and could were audible from just outside the stadium but it remains to be seen if that will occur again.

There are some temporary changes to the game as well. Team will now by allowed up to 5 substitutions instead of 3. There is a limitation that these substitutions can only be made over 3 occasions (not including half-time) to avoid time wasting and disruption. Teams will also be allowed a squad of 23 instead of 22 players. Finally, 12 players will be permitted on the bench instead of the usual 7.

Previous form and matches will probably be less indicative of current form based on the length of the break but it should be explored as a summary.

Valencia currently sit 7th at 42 points, 4 points behind their target Champions League positions. Their previous match was 3-4 loss at home against Atalanta in the Champions League Round of 16. In La Liga, Valencia were held to a 1-1 draw away from home to Alaves in the last matchday before the league was suspended.

Levante find themselves at 13th position in the league with 33 points heading into this derby. Their last fixture before the suspension was 1-1 home draw to Granada.

The previous fixture earlier in the season between these two ended 2-4 in favor of Valencia. Levante finished the first half with a two-goal lead. In the second half, a Levante own goal followed by a brace from Gameiro turned the game around to a 2-3 lead for Valencia. Levante had a red card shown to one of their players about 15 minutes from full-time. Valencia would capitalize with a late 88th minute goal from Ferran to seal the victory.

FORM ***all competitions

Valencia: LDWLL
Levante: DLWLW

SQUAD

While Valencia have been in poor form, the blame was often placed on the length of the injury list as well as the length and recurrence of those injuries, especially those to key players. With the suspension of La Liga for all this time, almost all of those names have recovered and are available for selection.

There are two exceptions to this. Garay who is still recovering from an earlier injury, Paulista, who recently picked up an injury (muscular overload in right thigh) during Monday's training, and Piccini who was had to undergo a scheduled second operation.

Kondogbia is missing from this list due to suspension from accumulated bookings.

Key changes in lineup are: Cillissen in goal over Jaume, Guedes in the starting lineup over Ferran Torres after spending the last few matches on the bench, Florenzi over Wass in right-back and Hugo Guillamon playing alongside Diakhaby to cover for the absence of Paulista. Javi Jimenez also makes an appearance on the bench,

Bench: Domenech, Thierry, Wass, Mangala, Jimenez, Costa, Kang-In, Cheryshev, Ferran, Vallejo, Gameiro, Sobrino.

FIRST HALF

5' - Valencia with an early chance in the game. Guedes plays a through ball for Gaya who had made an overlapping run. Gaya plays a delightful cross towards Maxi Gomez in the center but it it's just out of reach of his outstretched leg.
17' - Morales races with Diakhaby for the ball on the left flank. He gets there slightly ahead of Diakhaby and crosses to Roger Marti who had gotten in front of Guillamon. Fortunately, Cillissen intercepts the low cross and denies the chance.
27' - Parejo tries to set up Florenzi on the edge of the box from a free kick but the pass is intercepted by Levante setting up a 4 vs 3 at the back. Florenzi did well to get back in time and put enough pressure on the Levante player forcing a corner in the end.
29' - Soler plays a through ball for Rodrigo to run onto on the right flank. Rodrigo drives forward and attempts to pickout Maxi Gomez but the cross is intercepted. The ball falls back to Soler who had made his way into the box. He fires at goal but it bounces of the crossbar. Very close.
38' - An interception by Coquelin sets up a counter-attack for Valencia. Play is transitioned quickly from the right flank to the left where Rodrigo finds Gaya with a through ball. Gaya surprises the defense by cutting across and taking a shot towards the far post. His shot is a bit too high and a bit too wide.
43' - Yellow card shown to Guillamon for excessive pressure on Roger Marti.
45' - Two minutes are added by the referee for stoppages.
45+1' - Yellow card shown to Roger Marti for a late challenge on Parejo.
45+2' - Parejo with a brilliant cross from the free kick. Rodrigo meets the delivery with a nod across goal, Diakhaby gets a touch and hits the top left corner of the goal. There was some suggestion that he was offside but it doesn't matter since he didn't score.

HALF-TIME

Decent first half from both teams. There was though, a lack of intensity, probably due to the absence of fans in the stadium.

Both teams had their chances to take the lead with Valencia arguably having the better of the two. Both Soler and Diakhaby hit the post, in the middle and end of the half respectively.

Levante's tactic seems to be to try to exploit the inexperience of Guillamon in defense with their experienced forwards. He has already been caught by surprise and drawn into a foul in this half. While Levante had a few good chances the end product was very tame in comparison.

For Valencia, Guedes seems to be playing with a lot more calm and composure, rather than the frustration that was evident before. However, the goal seems more likely to come through Maxi Gomez or Rodrigo who have both been quite involved in offense.

Overall, quite decent, better than expected but not convincing enough given the amount of time. The fans already know the team is capable of doing some linkup play as they have seen many occasions, although not consistently. However, the finishing blow that was lacking, looks to be still missing thus far. The team has the whole second half to begin to change that.

Half-time stats: 4-5 shots, 0-3 shots on target, 56-44 % possession.

SECOND-HALF

53' - Yellow card shown to Miramon for pulling Guedes to impede his run.
56' - Two changes for Valencia: Gameiro for Maxi Gomez and Wass for Florenzi.
60' - Double change for Levante: Rochina for Melero and Mayoral for Morales.
64' - Guedes and Gaya team up again with a through ball from the former to find the overlapping run of the latter. Gaya plays the ball across goal but no one is there to finish it and travels all the way to the other side of the box. Rodrigo picks it up and finds Guedes in the center but his shot ends up in the stands.
66' - Rodrigo receives a pass from Parejo on the goal-line. He cuts inside past 2 defenders and takes a shot and succeeds in forcing a saves out of the keeper.
68' - Third change for Valencia. Soler is taken off and Ferran Torres replaces him.
71' - Yellow card for Vukcevic for a pull back on Rodrigo to impede his run.
73' - Double change for Levante. Bardhi off, Tono Garci on. Vukcevic off, Radoja on.
74' - Second yellow card shown to Roger Matri for a reckless challenge from behind on Guillamon. He is shown a red card and walks off the field. This is Valencia's chance to take control of the game.
82' - Rodrigo chests a cross towards goal but is denied by Postigo who was guarding his goal.
84' - Final change for Levante. Campana off, Pablo Martinez on.
87' - Change for Valencia. Cheryshev on, Guedes off.
89' - GOAL VALENCIA! 1-0! Guillamon picks out Gaya with a great through ball and Gaya produces yet another great cross this time for Rodrigo who pokes it past the keeper.
90' - The referee adds five minutes of additional time for stoppages.
90+5' - Diakhaby with another blunder. He handles a player in the penalty box in the dying minutes of the game and gives away a penalty to Levante. The referee awards the penalty after an extensive VAR check.
90+8' - Goal for Levante. 1-1. The penalty is converted. So much for a win, in typical Valencia fashion it is thrown away,

FULL-TIME

The goal finally came in the closing minutes of original time. In much similar fashion to the last fixture between these two teams, Levante received a red card in the final 20 minutes of the game and Valencia grab a goal less than 5 minutes from full-time. All Valencia had to do was see the game through. In the final minute of stoppage time for no reason whatsoever Diakhaby gives away a penalty for being too handsy with the Levante player. This isn't the first time nor does it look to be the last.

Valencia should have walked out the winners as the chances they got were better. They were still far from the level required to be at Champions League level evidenced by the fact that they needed a red card to score and even then ended up giving up the result in the dying minutes of the game.

Gaya was the outstanding player of the match, providing three crosses, all of which cause lots of danger to the Levante defense, and one of which resulted in a goal. Rodrigo who looked one of the most dangerous in the first half, alongside Maxi Gomez, ended up with the goal from that cross. Honorable mention goes to Coquelin, who didn't get much time on the ball but put in quite a few key tackles in midfield.

The team played worse in the second half compared to the first and it was quite painful to watch. The only positive was the goal.

Full-time stats. 8-8 shots, 3-6 shots on target, 56-44 % possession.

Next game is on Thursday the 18th, away from home, against Real Madrid. The team needs to step it up quite a few gears before that game.

Valencia CF post Covid19

This is a guest article by Abzinho, who many of you know from the comments section.

Current state of Valencia 

With the season continuation finally upon us, I’m filled with so much pessimism when I think about the future of this great institution. If recent history of this club has taught as anything during the lim era, few words come to mind, chaos, bad strategy, uncertainty, regressive. Over the last few years under this regime we’ve been stuck in a circle of a step forward two steps back. Until recently I was willing to give Lim the benefit of doubt, but I’ve come to the realisation that the project he proposed has failed and he’s failed relative to where I thought he would take this club when he became an owner. An owner doesn’t necessarily need to be hands on but if you don’t have a competent management structure in place then in my eyes nothing fruitful will happen. But based on what is clear to see,  lim’s decisions to hire “yes men” with little to no real knowledge of running a football club has been detrimental to Valencia cf. Those who he previously hired who did have those capabilities were quickly removed once they spoke against the owners view point. The lim era has shown of track record of poorly managed club with a huge influence as it seems form his close friend “Mendes”. Now I’d like reiterate that having Mendes as a adviser isn’t necessarily all bad, he has a client portfolio of some of the most talented players in the world. But for some reason Valencia seem to end up with the worst of the bunch. Financial capabilities of course come into play and funds at the club have been limited, even so that still doesn’t justify how we keep getting it wrong time after time. This strategy of following mendes recommendation for most of our purchases had limited the club exploring other markets such as, South America and other European markets. The way I see the dynamics between lim and mendes is, both have their own interests, however by lim following mendes recommendations which have mostly failed over the last couple of years, the only winner in that equation is mendes. I could be wrong but based on recent history it’s hard to see it any other way. This in itself really makes me question what is lim’s intention with this club. 

Where are all our club legends?

Another thing worth questioning is, where are all the club legends and why isn’t their leadership being used at the club? We’ve seen several who were recently involved all gone and never returned and based on the structure of the current regime, I’m not surprised. What really resonates with me regarding the way the club is run currently is Santiago Cañizares insight discussing the many things wrong at the club. The club is run by money men and very few if any football men.

 Replenishing the squad under further financial constraints 

I recently saw comment from lim stating the need for 10-20% cut on cost which I believe was around 383M when the season started. Will this further limit are sending and who will we lose as a result? The chaotic cycle continues and don’t let them fool you with “pandemic financial impact”, this is a story of constant failure by a bunch of parasite who are not benefiting the club but rather leeching off it. With that being said I think my position on lim and his administration is quite clear so I have nothing to add. They only thing I’d ask our fans is, what shape do you think Valencia will be in 5-10 years from now under its current leadership?

I was going to do a summary of each position and suggest who is extendable in order to replenish the squad, but I thought I’d rather just cover the main weak positions.

Here we go…

Right back – we have four players in this position and not a single one is up to the expected level, that sums it all up.

My solution – get rid of all but wass (loan young Portuguese guy) and sign Álvaro Odriozola. 

CB – paulista and Hugo Guillamón (give him a new contract) aside replenish the rest.

CM – sell either kondogbia or coquelin bring in a creative midfield (ideally ceballos). Play soler more in this position. 

Wingers – sell cheryshev, give more opportunities to manu and kangin. As for ferran if you can’t give him what he wants, acquire as much as you can for him. If that’s Barca or real get additional players as well as cash.

Forwards – sell gameiro, sobrino and Rodrigo (still possible to get a good return from him). Guedes as frustrating as he’s been needs to be given one more year. Now that he’s overcome his injuries a lot is expected from him.

Gk – cillessen will most likely leave due to financial constraints, but needs to be replaced as I don’t have much faith in domenech as a number 1. He’s a great number 2, but nothing more.

All in all I’m predicting a bleak future ahead for the club as I’ve completely lost faith and trust in these morons in charge. Don’t be fooled by the countless number of players we’re linked with, we’ve seen that movie one too many times. What will the club look like this time next year? One thing I’m quite confident about is we will consistently be inconsistent.

Finally I’d like to leave you all with food for thought. once this pandemic passes and normal service has resumed will we start protesting against this ownership that has failed the club? Or will we wait until we’re totally screwed before going against this embarrassing leadership structure?

I know where I stand!

Stay safe everyone and please take time to acquire knowledge outside of your domain and once we all understand the troubles in the world today, we can work to something better.

Garay explains his position

Garay has just released an emotional video on Instagram (here, in Spanish) in which he explains his side of his contract renewal situation.

He claims that the assertion that he refused a decent sized salary is false, with the only offer made during the Marcelino time and substantially less than what he currently receives. He says that he has always wanted to renew with the exception being for a short period of a few weeks after Marcelino's sacking when he wanted to see how things would develop.

He says that since his injury, the club has made no new offers, apart from suggesting that if he took a bigger salary cut than the rest of the squad this would help his case.

He looks very stressed, really annoyed and at one point, on the verge of tears, saying that he's sick of being misrepresented on this issue.

Despite all that, clubs generally look really unfavourably on such uses of social media, so I would say that this had definitely sealed his fate and he has kicked his last ball in a Valencia shirt.

The question now is who replaces him. The club's defensive planning has been poor for some time. Given his vulnerability to injuries, having 4 defenders has clearly not been enough and there have been various times during the last few seasons when other players have had to plug the gap, Coquelin most notably. The signing of the even more injury prone Mangala just made things worse and this is clearly one of several areas where the club needs to invest in. They also need to blood a fifth defender (Javi Jimenez?) who can step in when needed.

Valencia's mid (or end of?) season ratings

It's slow times for news. We continue to be linked speculatively with targets old and new Jose Callejon, Nahuel Bustos, Musacchio etc and with possible returns (Guaita, Neto, Silva.) At the moment it looks more likely than not that La Liga will be played to a finish with a target date of 12 June and very late kick off times for climate reasons (11pm anyone?) In the meantime here are the player ratings for the season so far

CILLESSEN 3: Most of us viewed the swap positively at the time, seeing him as a slight upgrade on Neto. Though he has produced some decent saves in some games (at Chelsea, for example) he's way below the level needed and is a prime candidate for a summer exit. A disappointing signing. 

JAUME 3.5: Many of our fans, especially those from in and around Valencia,  rave over him and I never get why. Almost all our heaviest defeats this season have come with him between the sticks (four goals conceded to Atlanta (twice) and Mallorca, conceding 3 to Getafe (twice), Osasuna and Sociedad) while he isn't fully culpable given defensive issues this is a clear sign that he certainly shouldn't be our number 1 going forward. An okay back-up keeper but nothing more.

GAYA 6.5: A decent enough season while not hitting the heights he's capable of. His decision making can be suspect at times.

COSTA 4: Lato wanted to leave in search of more game time which he didn't get so he came in. Has been ok in a few games but lacks the quality to be more than a stop gap.

DIAKHABY 2.5: last season looked like a diamond in the rough with some good defensive performances allowing us to overlook his bad habits. Like Cillessen he hasn't been irredeemably awful, with a few decent performances (away to Ajax, for example) to boast of. But those have been easily overshadowed by his many failings, especially in European games, and habits of giving away stupid penalties. The knives are out.

MANGALA 2: He arrived on a free transfer. The positives end there. Most of the time injured and when he does play, you almost wish he'd stayed injured.

GARAY 5.5: A decent and experienced defender, but looks to be past his best and that's even before we get to the elephant in the room: he's always injured. I'd be happy enough to say bye and wish him all the best.

PAULISTA 6.5: with his experience and relative lack of injuries, he's the best defender we have but needs to curb his idiotic outbursts of temper. We saw it a few seasons ago against Las Palmas and again this year at Ajax.

PICCINI (no rating) : probably easy to forget, but he did play the first two games. Another victim of Valencia's injury curse.

FLORENZI 4: looked decent in his first game but then only played three more, getting sent off in one of them and being sub in the other two. Was tempted to give him no rating as he just hasn't played enough to make a judgement.

THIERRY: 1.5: Unbelievably, Mangala wasn't our worst signing. That honour goes to this guy and he wasn't free either, the club squandered 12 million to land him. Way, way short of the level needed.

WASS 6: Never amazing, but a solid utility player who has clocked up the second highest number of minutes in the squad and chipped in a crucial goal (even if it was a fluke) at home to Chelsea.

GUEDES 3: As I said in a previous post, a typical Guedes season at Valencia sees him look like Ronaldo reborn for 2 months, Aderlan Santos reborn for 3 months and injured the other 4 months. This season all we've got are the last two. Needs to step up or be sold.

KANG-IN 3.5: Did get his first senior goal (vs Getafe) but has otherwise looked a bit lost. Clearly needs a loan to get the minutes necessary.

CHERYSHEV 4.5: shades of Guedes, has obvious quality but way too inconsistent and spends far too much time on the sidelines injured.

PAREJO 6.5: Always a controversial player. I think he's had a decent enough season, and the club clearly miss him when he is absent, but he is inconsistent, and we haven't even mentioned the penalty misses.

COQUELIN 7: a solid season undermined only by injuries and bouts of ill-discipline. A good player to have on the team.

KONDOGBIA 4.5: there's been talk of interest from England and it may be time to cash in. After a terrific first season he's been a letdown, with special moments like the goal against Lille the exception amidst injuries and average performances.

SOLER 5.5: injuries and coaches' habits of playing him out of position (hint: he isn't a left winger) have stopped him reaching his potential.

ESQUERDO (no rating): the constant injuries have pushed him to the fringes of the first team but in 3 brief appearances there's been nothing to suggest that he will be any more than an afterthought in the mould of past holders of this role like Tropi, Rober etc

VALLEJO 4.5: has looked a decent and handy player at times, with a key equaliser in injury time at Valladolid, but the left wing where he usually plays is well stocked so it's hard to see where his minutes are coming from.

FERRAN 8.5: big breakout season with too many great performances to list. Unfortunately, it looks likely to be his swansong. With contract negotiations dragging on without success and his contract running out in June next year, I could hardly blame the club if they cashed in their chips rather than risk him leaving for nothing.

SOBRINO 2.5: Would you believe he played in 14 games this season? That stat is misleading as nine of them saw him coming in as a very late sub, in five cases he played just a minute. Like his predecessor, Celades clearly lacks confidence in him and you can't blame him, as Sobrino looks out of his depth. A brilliant debut at Celtic last season was clearly a fluke. A key equaliser vs Sevilla notwithstanding, not good enough. 

RODRIGO 5.5: one of the two most controversial players in the team. Supporters point to his many assists: 11 in 28 games. Critics point out that he's supposed to be scoring goals and 5 in 28 is a poor return, though that does include critical away goals in Europe. Few would argue with selling him if an offer of 40 million or more came in.

GAMEIRO 4.5: an ok third striker, but again his scoring rate is just not good enough: 7 in 29, though half those have been as sub. He was 33 last week and has to be a candidate to be moved on.

MAXI 6.5: decent enough debut season (let's forget Chelsea at the Mestalla) where he's got to double figures. If La Liga does return, 15 goals would be the target. 

CELADES 4.5: came in under very controversial circumstances. With expectations low, he's done better than many expected: qualification from a tough group in the Champions league the jewel in the crown as well as some wins over traditionally tricky opponents such as Bilbao and Eibar. Big question marks remain. Injuries have almost always handicapped him, but how much of those injuries are on him? What's his playing style or philosophy? A major concern is that, under him, the defence has taken a definite step backwards. Hasn't done enough wrong to merit a summer replacement (though with an owner like Lim, who knows?) so should be in the bench next season, but needs to improve if he wants to be in the hot seat beyond the end of this year.

THE SEASON 4: The first game at home to Sociedad was definitely a sign of things to come. Missing a penalty in the 93rd minute, then gifting them a penalty in the 98th to throw away 2 points highlighted a major problem of Valencia: penalties. We miss too many and concede too many, easily the highest in La Liga over the last 4 seasons. Wins at Chelsea and Ajax to secure a first last 16 CL place in 7 years was a sweet moment, but then drawing the relatively weakest team and getting owned in both legs soured it and showed that the club still has a long way to go if it wants to play with the big boys. Constant injuries have highlighted the need for a squad revamp, as there are too many fragile players. The sacking of Marcelino was a worrying development. It showed that Lim can't just leave well alone and the owner-driven signings of Thierry and Mangala on Mendes' advice is an unwelcome return to the bad old days. If the season does resume, getting to top four looks unlikely, the team would need to show much more consistency than they showed pre-lockdown.

Thanks for reading and as always, your comments are appreciated.

The future after Covid19

La Liga's two-week shutdown has been extended indefinitely and given the situation in Spain, it's hard to see any resumption in the near future. If it does happen, it will likely see games played behind closed doors.

Various options have been discussed for the future. These include:

1) Cancel and void the season.
From a Valencia perspective, this has superficial appeal. This season has been so-so by Valencia standards with the constant injuries preventing any consistency. VCF are the only La Liga team that hasn't fielded an unchanged line-up in consecutive games. The team sits outside the Champions league places in 7th and while the team is only 4 points off fourth, it has never shown the ability to string together the series of results needed to overcome its rivals, making top 4 seem unlikely. Cancelling the season and starting again, with Valencia in the Champions league, sounds appealing, but it would be with the same seeding as last year. meaning another tricky group and wiping out the coefficient points that we gained with the heroics at Ajax and Chelsea. The biggest problem with this would be money. TV companies would undoubtedly demand their money back for an incomplete season and since that money has already been paid in salaries and running costs it would create huge financial issues for the majority of La Liga clubs. For that reason, this option is one that authorities are seeking to avoid.

2) End the season with the current standings.
This was another option discussed and is one that the Belgian league has taken. However, UEFA responded by threatening their clubs with expulsion from European competitions, which shows that it's an option they want to avoid. It's also inevitable that that would see a slew of legal cases, given how close La Liga is. Sure. it would be fun to see Getafe miss out on the Champions league by goals scored, but Real Madrid would miss out on the title by 2 points, Atletico Madrid on Champions league by 1 point, Mallorca and Leganes relegated, despite being only a win away from safety, while our European hopes would depend on whether Sociedad won the cup. For those reasons, this isn't going to happen.

3) A play-off system to decide the title, Europe and relegation.
An option suggested several times. But since no one can agree who would qualify for such a play-off system (top 2? top 4? top 8? 2-legged or one-legged games?) it isn't going to happen, which leaves....

4) Finish the season later.
This is the option being actively pursued by football authorities. It's the fairest, but creates numerous logistical issues. It would be mid-June at the earliest before La Liga could resume which would mean a rushed schedule to finish in late July. While Valencia would at least recover injured players, their fragility would be severely tested. It would also mean hardly any pre-season before starting again in August. There is also the question of players contracts which finish on 30 June. Finally, the qualifying rounds of the Champions league and Europa league usually take place in July. While that would only feature the 7th placed Spanish club, currently us, they would need to be pushed back, putting pressure on next year's schedule as well. I'm not sure if they could alleviate that by, for example, scrapping next season's Copa del Rey, but it produces a major challenge.

===================
Obviously, news has been slow during all this, but there has been chatter about which players leave and join us.

The debate about the goalkeeping position is now live. Cillessen has been a disappointment. When he joined most of us viewed him as an upgrade on Neto, but he's been worse. One option being considered is the return of Vicente Guaita, now a more experienced and better goalkeeper than when he left us.

In defence, Diakhaby, after showing some promise in his first season, has become a liability and is a strong candidate to exit. He is still well regarded enough that the club could probably make a profit on the 15m they paid for him. Not much was expected from Mangala and he didn't disappoint, looking sluggish and unconvincing. The question of whether to renew Garay's contract remains, most sources indicate we will. Thierry has looked another Mendes bust, but would benefit from going out on loan before a final decision is made. Strong rumours are coming that Valencia will buy Diogo Leite of Porto for 20m. This looks like another questionable move. He has only played 3 senior games, so paying such a sum for a 20-year-old Mendes prospect looks like a big gamble and another potential disaster. Valencia have also been linked with River Plate's Gonzalo Montiel (right back) and Lucas Quarto (central defender.)

In midfield, Kondogbia has been linked with Tottenham. After a terrific first season, his last two have been hampered by injuries and inconsistency. He would bring in much needed cash for transfers. Ferran's contract saga lingers with conflicting reports. Some say the player himself wants to leave, others blame it on the agent, saying Ferran wants to re-sign but the agent is demanding a salary far beyond what Valencia can afford.

Up front there is little change. The club will look to offload Sobrino, while Gameiro's future remains up in the air.

La Liga suspended for 2 weeks

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced today that the first two division of La Liga will be suspended for the next two weeks due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. The RFEF will convene on March 25th to evaluate the situation and how to proceed from then on.

For now, the Valencia squad resumes training sessions as usual and has implemented some checkups and other protocols to minimize risk and spread. However, some players are calling for the RFEF to go beyond and suspend training sessions as well.