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September 13, 2020. 22:00. Valencia. “Mestalla”.
The league. First round
Valencia – Levante (Valencia)
Where to look: MEGOGO
Disqualified: no
Injured: Jasper Sillessen, Tony Lato, Hasson, Kevin Gameiro – Ruben Rocina, Rocher Marty
Valencia – Raise: bookmaker odds
The recent history of Valencia has had two seasons of relative calm, stability and good results in general. These were the seasons in which the team was led by Marcelino García Toral. Under him in 2019, in the year of the club’s centenary, he won the Spanish Cup, and Los Ches also finished twice in the Champions zone. But in September last year, “Valencia” owner Peter Lim decided to ditch the manager, guided only by his understandable motives and by having a personal grudge against Marcelino.
Read also: Valencia has made a statement on the economic situation of the club
With this stupid firing, “Bats” problems began. The team boss, Albert Selades, to put it mildly, did not cope with the responsibility and could not solve the assigned tasks, which is why he was fired even before the end of the season. Marcelino’s resignation incidentally caused a storm of indignation among team leaders. Dani Parejo spoke out openly against this decision. The captain was the true leader of the locker room and of course he found many like-minded people. And now Lim and the company are trying to get rid of all these dissidents. Parejo and Coquelin are already in Villarreal, Rodrigo went to Leeds, Ferran Torres, who did not want to renew his contract and requires a captain’s armband, was sold to Manchester City.
Read also: Manchester City announce Torres transfer
The club’s management sculpts various excuses, blaming everything on the problems caused by the pandemic, and spreading the word about the need to optimize costs. Also, there were rumors that the result of this optimization could be bankruptcy. But the club was quick to refute this information, calling it false. And what a bankruptcy, if only the sales of Ferran and Rodrigo managed to earn more than 50 million euros, provided that not a penny was spent on newcomers. And then the Valencia city authorities require the club to submit a project for the completion of the construction of a new stadium with concrete dates in order to quickly demolish Mestala and build high-rise residential buildings and office buildings in its place. . And “Nueva Mestalla”, by the way, has been under construction for 13 years, and on the job, as they say, the horse did not roll …
Read also: Valencia is close to bankruptcy, the club offered players promissory notes instead of salaries
Los Chas fans, despite the epidemiological situation, organize mass protests, wander at night with candles in the square near the club’s office and demand that Lim leave his Valencia alone, and some even threaten Asian bosses with murder, forcing him to hire an armed man. security, without which it does not tread at all. In general, dark times have come for “bats”. It is quite possible that Valencia will follow the same curved path that Malaga did at that time. The anchovies for several years since the participant of the Champions League playoffs sank to the point that they almost flew to Second B in the previous season.
Read also: The president of Valencia hired bodyguards amid threats from fans
Meanwhile, at the end of July, Javi Gracia was appointed coach of Valencia, who, frankly, won nothing in his career. He won Second B with Pontevedra (2007) and Cádiz (2009), and in 2019 he reached the FA Cup final with Watford. However, this, as you see, is a great achievement. At the same time, Gracia went to work in a strong team with serious tasks, but within a month four key players left her at once. Also, Sillessen, Kondogbia, and Gameiro could be leaving soon too. These guys were also included, let’s say, in the “Matching Match Party”, and they also receive decent salaries, which does not fit within the budget optimization framework. Also, according to rumors, the task of finding a new club for his client was entrusted to Denis Cheryshev’s agent.
Read also: Leeds announce the transfer of Valencia forward Rodrigo
Grace recently made a statement that the team needs immediate and high-quality strengthening, otherwise, what kind of solutions to assigned tasks can we talk about? Indeed, to date eight players have left the team (in addition to Parejo, Coquelin, Ferran and Rodrigo, Florenzi, Jaume Costa, Garay and Piccini have left) and not a single player has been bought. Only the guys came back from the leases, which didn’t even stand next to the ones who left in terms of quality. Valencia president Anil Murti promises to do his best to strengthen the team, but so far these are just words.
But the “Levante” develops slowly, living, as they say, within its means. The “Frogs” finished the previous season in the status of a strong middle peasant in La Liga, and this status, presumably, suits them quite well. In addition, the Levantines in the summer started another planned reconstruction of the stadium, which should be completed soon. In the offseason, Paco López’s team did not lose just one important player: Borja Mayoral returned to Real Madrid after two seasons on loan. All the other leaders of the “blue-red” have gone nowhere.
Read also: Spain Championship. First round. Osasuna wins in Cádiz
Last season, the Frogs raised five million euros by selling Simon Moses to Nantes, and then with this money they bought two promising Real players: winger Jorge de Frutos and forward Dani Gómez. The latter, I think, may soon become one of the leaders of Levante. Also available to Paco López were full-back Sueño de la Ponferradina and defensive midfielder Mikael Malsa from Mirandes, who the Valencians got free.
Valencia – Raise: indicative compositions
In addition to the transfer losses, the “Valencia” at the beginning of the season, added staff. Goalkeeper Jasper Sillessen, winger Tony Lato, winger Hason and experienced forward Kevin Gameiro will definitely miss the next derby. The current application of “Bats” seems obscenely weak, in no way corresponds to the status of the team fighting for places in the European competition. Although, of course, Javi Gracia still has enough high-quality and highly intelligent players, led by the new “Valencia” captain José Luis Gaia. There’s Dani Wass, there’s Gabriel Paulista, there’s Kondogbia, Soler, Gonçalo Guedes, Maxi Gomez, and the promising Korean Lee Kang In. But there is no good replacement for this bunch of cool guys.
List of Valencia players: Jaume Domenech, Christian Rivero – Thierry Correia, Elyakim Mangalya, Gabriel Paulista, Muktar Diacabi, Jose Luis Gaia, Hugo Gilliamon, Alex Centelles, Guillaume Molina – Geoffrey Condogbia, Gonçalo Guedesh, Carlos, Soler, Li Kangassev Urosh Racic, Alex Blanco, Yunus Musa, Vicente Esquerdo – Ruben Sobrino, Manu Vallejo, Maxi Gomez.
Read also: Valencia unveils three kits for the 2020/2021 season (Video)
As for “Levante”, then Paco López in the derby will not be able to count on two players from the first team. We’re talking flanking midfielder Ruben Rochin and striker Roher Marty, the Frogs’ top scorer last season. Well, the central Rubén Vezu, former player of “Valencia”, has just recovered, by the way. It is unlikely that Paco López will be especially surprised by the choice of composition, and the manager has no intention of departing from the usual scheme of his team. Rochina in the “start” will be replaced, for example, by Melero. O de Frutos (Bardi will move on the right wing and Jorge will play on the left). And Morales’ company in the attack will be Dani Gómez or Sergio León.
List of Levante players: Coke Vegas, Aitor Fernandez, Dani Cardenas – Son, Tonyo, Robert Pierre, Oscar Duarte, Ruben Vesu, Sergio Postigo, Carlos Clerk, Jorge Miramon, Coke – Nemanja Radoja, Hernani, Ennis Bardi, Nikola Vukcevic, Gonzalo Melero, Jose Jorge de Frutos, Pablo Martines – Sergio Leon, Jose Morales, Dani Gomes.
Valencia – Raise: author’s forecast
Levante have never beaten Valencia in a derby at the Mestalla in their history. In total, opponents played 14 matches here, nine of which were won by the “Bats”. Despite all the problems, Xavi Gracia’s team should have enough strength to at least extend this undefeated streak. Still, it is not in vain that the hosts give such a high coefficient for a clear victory. In previous years, you would not have found such a day with fire. The “Levante” is quite a difficult opponent, playing very well in the counterattacks, but there are still doubts that the “Ranas” are capable of beating this hapless “Valencia”. On the other hand, perhaps now is the perfect time to finally win at the Mestalla. Regarding the prediction of the match, I would probably ignore the bet on the result of the Valencian derby (I repeat, I do not think the hosts will lose), but what I am waiting for is the exchange of goals and, probably, the overcoming of the “top ”From the bookmaker.
Frequent questions
📌 What time does the game start?
The match will start at 22:00
📌 What is the best place to bet?
Best bet on Parimatch website with odds of 1.67 on both scores – Yes
