Every point counts for a struggling Valencia
Valencia is a club that has always been one of the best teams in Spain for many years. They made 2 champions league finals in 1999 and 2001 where they were runner ups. Valencia for many years has always contested for La Liga and they were at the peak of their powers when they won La Liga in 2004. Los Che are now on the verge of being relegated as they are one point from safety with 12 games to go. Valencia have not gone down since 1986 when Oscar Valdez and Alfredo Di Stefano were their managers.
Valencia was one of Europe’s strongest in their prime years
Over the years Valencia has boasted some of the best players in Europe such as David Villa, David Silva, Isco and a host of other players. Between the years of 2000 and 2010 Valencia reached the Champions League six times. They even won the Copa del Rey in 2008 which was their first Copa del Rey victory in nine years. Valencia even won the La Liga in 2001 and 2004. This Valencia team was a team that most clubs around Europe feared to face due to their fierce counter attacks. Valencia also boasted one of the the best defenses in Europe with players like Albelda, Marchena, Aurelio, Ayala and many others. Then in 2010 the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and had to sell many top players like Villa, Silva, Mata and others. Valencia still managed to be successful that season by finishing in 3rd.
Los Che manages to bounce back after near bankruptcy
Despite Valencia having nearly reached bankruptcy in 2010 they managed to bounce back a few seasons later as they came in 3rd place two successive seasons. Valencia did however reach a decline for the next two seasons. Los Che finally managed to clinch back their Champions League spot in 2015 when Paco Alcacer scored the winner against Almeria in the 80th minute. He would then become the captain the following season. However Valencia hit rock bottom as they would drop to 12th place in mid-table. The next two seasons turned out to be golden for the club as they finished in 4th place in 2018 and 2019. They also managed to win the Copa del Rey which was their first trophy since 2008 beating FC Barcelona in the final.
Valencia starts to decline again
This Copa del Rey victory against FC Barcelona would prove to be a turning point for the club and Los Che were beeming with confidence. It was also looking like Marcelino was the right man for the job. Valencia was looking like they would finally be replicating their form from the 2000s. However then sacked Marcelino in September. The next few seasons would see them miss out on Europe every single year finishing in 9th place twice and 13th place once. In fact they have had six different managers since Marcelino. Valencia is now on the verge of relegation. Ruben Barja must act quickly and has 8 games to do or else they will face being relegated for the first time in 36 years.
Can the Mestalla faithful inspire Valencia to stay up
The Mestalla is an atmosphere that absolutely lights up at home games and a club like this deserves to be in La Liga. This would be the first big relegation since Villarreal went down in 2012. Many are asking for Peter Lim who has been the owner of the club for nine years to step down. He fired arguably the best manager they had in the last ten years and has failed to reach Europe in six of the last nine years. They also have sold a number of star players like Guedes, Soler, Rodrigo, Parejo, Ferran and many others. If Valencia were to get relegated it would not be something that the fans take lightly and an enormous amount of pressure is piling not only on Baraja but most especially on Peter Lim. For this struggling Los Che side every point counts.
