The lowdown on Valencia CF

In between their two Europa League games with Napoli, Barça have a major video game in La Liga as well. On Sunday at 4.15pm CET, they journey to Valencia. Here’s our lowdown on the club they phone Los Che.

The place are they from?

Valencia is the third biggest city in Spain, the fifth largest port in the Mediterranean and the capital of the area of the identical title, the place lots of folks talk Valencian, a sister-language of Catalan. Its massive historic centre is crammed with buildings to admire, and it’s also the residence of Spain’s most famed dish, paella, and of the impressive fallas competition in March.

Record

The club was founded in 1919, but was not amongst the original members of La Liga in 1928. Valencia started out in the second division, but won marketing a few several years later on and have stayed there at any time because aside 1 time, 1986/87, when they dropped down to the next.

Valencia is the third-most supported soccer club in Spain, but they have frequently performed a supporting function to Barça and Authentic Madrid in La Liga. Even so, they have gained the title 6 situations, most just lately in 2004, and in 2019 conquer Barça to assert an eighth Copa del Rey trophy.

They’ve also won all of the major continental trophies apart from the Champions League, in which they ended up overwhelmed finalists two times in a row in 2000 and 2001.

The stadium

The 55,000 capacity Mestalla requires its title from a canal that utilized to run along with the subject. For various a long time it was recognised as a substitute as the Luis Casanova following 1 of the club’s most esteemed presidents, but in 1994 the man himself asked for it to consider back its former name.

Designed in 1923, it is the oldest of the 20 La Liga grounds, but its days are numbered. Work on a new stadium started in 2007 but the approach has been interrupted by financial complications and it’s nonetheless unclear when the venue will be total.

Variety guide

Thirteenth put in the 2020/21 La Liga was quite bad by Valencia’s common criteria, but 2021/22 has not been going a great deal greater.

There have been 4 quite obvious phases. They got off to a shiny start, but then went for seven online games with out a one wins. There was a marked improvement in November and December, but matters then took a different exceptional convert for the even worse. They have not gained considering the fact that Xmas and dropped to 12^th location soon after shedding to Alavés last week, their most affordable position of the year.

In distinction, they marches all the way to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, even though the only initial division crew they experienced to conquer on the way was Cádiz. They drew 1-1 in Bilbao in the initial leg and host the return fixture on March 2.

Final 5 Game titles
February 13 (LIGA): Alavés 2-1 Valencia
February 10 (COPA): Athletic Club 1-1 Athletic Club
February 6 (LIGA): Valencia – True Sociedad
February 2 (COPA): Valencia 2-1 Cádiz
January 22 (LIGA): Atlético Madrid 3-2 Valencia

Head to head

Valencia have only won three of their very last 29 league conferences with Barça, and their 2- earn in 2020 was their 1st at home to the Catalans given that 2007. The other two victories had been both equally at Camp Nou, 3-2 in 2014 and 2-1 in 2016.

Their latest type from Barça has basically been very powerful, with just a few defeats in the final eight meetings, such as victory in the 2019 Copa del Rey Remaining.

Valencia scored initially in this fixture last year, but Barça finished up winning it 3-2, and they also took the direct after just 5 minutes at Camp Nou previously this period, but ended up getting rid of that a single as well.

Very last Five Conferences
17/9/21 (LIGA) Barça 3 (Ansu Fati, Memphis, Coutinho) Valencia 1
2/5/21 (LIGA) Valencia 2 Barça 3 (Messi 2, Griezmann)
19/12/20 (LIGA) Barça 2 (Messi, Araujo) Valencia 2
25/1/20 (LIGA) Valencia 2 Barça
14/09/19 (LIGA) Barça 5 (Fati, De Jong, Piqué, Suárez 2) Valencia 2

The players

International caps
Jasper Cillessen (Holland, 60) Denis Cheryshev (Russia, 33) Gonçalo Guedes (Portugal, 28) Maxi Gómez (Uruguay, 22) José Gayà (Spain, 16) Yunus Musah (United states, 8), Omar Alderete (Paraguay, 8), Eray Cömert (Switzerland, 7)

Barça connections
Dutch intercontinental goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen was at Barça for three seasons, largely as second selection at the rear of Ter Stegen, and left for Valencia in the summertime of 2019.

Ilaix Moriba (higher than) was a Barça B player who featured in 14 game titles for the to start with workforce past year beneath Ronald Koeman, getting the club’s fifth youngstest scorer of all time when he netted from Osasuna. The Guinean was solf to RB Leipzig at the begin of this time, but considering that past month has returned to La Liga on financial loan to Valencia.

Winger Alex Blanco was element of Barça’s youth set up for two decades from 2014–16 in advance of returning to Valencia.

Leading scorers 2021/22
Gonçalo Guedes (9), Carlos Soler (7), Hugo Duro (6)

The boss

José Bordalás used most of his daily life taking part in and taking care of golf equipment in the Alicante location, but gained his popularity among the coaching circles when he guided each Alavés and Getafe to marketing to La Liga, incredibly approximately qualifying the latter for the Champions League. In the summer months of 2021, he approved the Valencia job that was vacant considering the fact that the dismissal of Javi Gracia in the wake of the 3-2 defeat to Barça.