News
VIE 03.01.2025
Valencia CF and Real Madrid are gearing up for their highly anticipated clash this Friday night at Mestalla. Originally scheduled for November 2nd, this Matchday 12 duel between Los Che and Los Blancos was postponed due to DANA storm that affected the Valencian Community in the days before the match. Fast-forward two months and things have changed drastically for both teams, with Valencia CF having changed their head coach and with Real Madrid no longer trailing FC Barcelona in the LALIGA EA SPORTS table.
A coaching debut at Valencia CF
Having collected just 12 points from their 17 league games so far this season, Valencia CF currently sit second-bottom, level on points with bottom-placed Real Valladolid. With the threat of relegation looming following their slow start to the 2024/25 campaign, Los Che decided to part ways with club legend Rubén Baraja. The former Valencia CF boss has been succeeded by Carlos Corberán, who hails from Cheste - a village seriously affected by the aforementioned natural disaster – and who took his first footballing steps at Los Che.
“Thanks to Valencia CF for believing in me,” Corberán said during his official presentation. “I would like to send a message of affection, of remembrance to all those victims who suffered the terrible consequences of the DANA tragedy. I am a resident of Cheste, one of the affected towns. From a distance, I experienced it with great sadness, because it was a very painful situation.”
After ending his short career as a goalkeeper, Corberán decided to focus on his passion for coaching. A spell at Villarreal CF’s C and B teams was followed by jobs in Cyprus before landing in England, where he coached Leeds United’s U23 team before taking over at Huddersfield Town. In the summer of 2022, he moved to Olympiacos, but his tenure in Greece was cut short before he took charge of West Bromwich Albion in the Championship. There, he enjoyed a successful spell, but this opportunity to return to his former club was too good to turn down.
“I am here to work and to give my best, so everyone should be convinced that I am going to give my all in this,” he added. “I am a Valencianista who is going to work with great responsibility, and the dedication that I am going to have to achieve the objective is going to be the maximum that a coach can have.”
To achieve the goal of avoiding relegation, Corberán wants the perfect start and to snap the team’s five-game winless streak in the league by picking up points against Real Madrid on Friday. Yet, beating the in-form Los Blancos, who are back in the title race, is anything but a simple task.
Real Madrid arrive in second place and in good form
Back on Matchday 12, when this game was initially scheduled to take place, FC Barcelona had beaten RCD Espanyol 3-1 in the Catalan derby to stretch their lead over Real Madrid to nine points, although the capital city side had this one game in hand. Yet, the reigning LALIGA EA SPORTS champions have made the most of Barça’s recent drop in form to overtake them in the table. Los Blancos now sit second, just one point behind local rivals Atlético de Madrid, meaning that should Atleti drop points in their Matchday 19 home duel against CA Osasuna then Real Madrid could claim the winter champions virtual crown.
Real Madrid have lost just two league games this season, and just one of their nine played away from home. Carlo Ancelotti’s side are currently unbeaten in five games across all competitions, having netted at least three goals in each of these duels.
That said, Real Madrid historically struggle away at Valencia CF, where they have won just two of their last 10 league games as visitors. It was a 2-2 draw last season and a 1-0 victory for Los Che the year before. As such, with Valencia CF looking to their good record against this particular opponent and hoping for a new manager bounce, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this game, the first LALIGA EA SPORTS fixture of 2025, will turn out.
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