The lowdown on Valencia CF
After three games in a row at the Estadi Olimpic, Barça now make the relatively short trip south to take on Valencia. Here’s our lowdown on the club they call Los Che.
Where are they from?
Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, the fifth largest port in the Mediterranean and the capital of the region of the same name, where many people speak Valencian, a sister-language of Catalan. Its huge historic centre is crammed with buildings to admire, and it’s also the home of Spain’s most famous dish, paella, and of the spectacular fallas festival in March.
History
The club was founded in 1919, but was not among the original members of La Liga in 1928. Valencia started in the second division, but won promotion three years later and have stayed there ever since apart one season, 1986/87, when they dropped down to the second.
Valencia is the third-most supported football club in Spain, but they have generally played a supporting role to Barça and Real Madrid in La Liga. However, they have won the title six times, most recently in 2004, and in 2019 beat Barça to claim an eighth Copa del Rey trophy.
They’ve also won all of the big continental trophies apart from the Champions League, in which they were beaten finalists twice in a row in 2000 and 2001.
The stadium
The 55,000 capacity Mestalla takes its name from a canal that used to run alongside the field. For several years it was known instead as the Luis Casanova after one of the club’s most esteemed presidents, but in 1994 the man himself asked for it to take back its former name.
Built in 1923, it is the oldest of the twenty La Liga grounds, but its days are numbered. Work on a new stadium began in 2007 but the process has been interrupted by financial difficulties and it’s still unclear when the venue will be complete.
Form guide
Following four seasons in which they have failed to finish any higher than ninth, 2023/24 again sees Valencia lower down the table than they would normally expect to be. Things started well enough, with back-to-back wins, but they have only won three of the 13 games played since and are currently on a four-game streak with just one point from a 0.0 draw with Celta to show for it. There's been a hefty 5-1 loss at Real Madrid, and also defeats away to both Girona and, last week, Getafe.
That leaves them eleventh in the table, while they are also still alive in the Copa del Rey, where they can look forward to a trip to Cartagena in January.
Head to head
Valencia have only won three of their last 32 league meetings with Barça, and their 2-0 win in 2020 was their first at home to the Catalans since 2007. The other two victories were both at Camp Nou, 3-2 in 2014 and 2-1 in 2016.
Barça are currently on a run of five straight victories against Valencia, including the last three league visits to Mestalla, and a sixth win would be the team''s longest ever winning streak against them.
That means Xavi has a 100 per cent record from his three games in charge against Valencia's, although last season's visit was a very, very close call, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the only goal of the game in the third minute of injury time (see video below). Barça also won the home leg by a solitary goal, Raphinha the man to thank on that occasion.
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
05/03/23 (LIGA) Barça 1-0 Valencia
29/10/22 (LIGA) Valencia 0-1 Barça
20/02/22 (LIGA) Valencia 1 Barça 4 (Aubameyang 2, F de Jong, Pedri)
17/9/21 (LIGA) Barça 3 (Ansu Fati, Memphis, Coutinho) Valencia 1
2/5/21 (LIGA) Valencia 2 Barça 3 (Messi 2, Griezmann)
The players
Most international caps
Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine, 46), Selim Amallah (Morocco, 31), José Gayà (Spain, 22); Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia, 14), Mouctar Diakhaby (Guinea, 9), Cenk Özkacar (Turkey, 7)
Barça connections
Midfielder Sergi Canós and forward Diego López both spent part of their development years in the FC Barcelona youth system
Team news
Both Gabriel Paulista and Javi Guerra were sent off in Valencia's last outing, which means they will be without two very important members of the squad for this one. To add to their difficulties, captain José Luis Gayà and Portuguese midfielder André Almeida are likely to miss out through injury.
The boss
Rubén Baraja replaced the dismissed Gennaro Gattuso at the helm of the Valencia in February of this year. A veteran of 263 appearances for Valencia, as well as 43 caps for Spain, he is a revered figure at Mestalla, who since retiring had gained coaching experience in charge of Elche, Rayo Vallecano, Sporting Gijón, Tenerife and Zaragoza.
This will be the first ever meeting between Baraja and Xavi as coaches, for the latter was suspended when the teams met towards the end of last season. But as players, they faced each other 16 times, and Xavi has the upper hand with seven wins, five draws and just four defeats. They last encountered each other 13 years ago on 14 march 2010, when Barça comfortably beat Valencia 3-0.