Real Madrid Sign Off Against Valencia: Opposition Preview

This weekend, Real Madrid will sign off for the international break with a final ever La Liga trip to the Mestella as the team face Valencia for match day 12 of the season.

But what can we expect from the hosts?

It has been another difficult start to the season for Valencia, who seem to always struggle, flirt with relegation and then eventually stay up. They have picked up just nine points from their 11 games so far.

As a result of their poor start, manager Carlos Corberan was sacked and replaced by Javier Aguirre, who was manager of Mexico at the World Cup (and in 2010). When Jude Bellingham faced his side he scored twice, so hopefully more of the same here.

It has been a mixed but reasonable start for the 67-year old, who has won one, drawn two and lost one of his opening four games in charge. The one defeat was to a 96th minute winner from Villarreal in a game they played well in, so he has made them more competitive.

In terms of dangermen, the truth is there is not much quality in the squad, but to pick out a name it would be 6’4 striker Umar Sadiq. The striker scored in a defeat to Deportivo La Coruna in August, then got injured for two months before scoring the winner in his first game back against Elche last time out.

So, two goals in just 187 minutes of action for the Nigerian international, and with his elite physicality, he is someone the Real Madrid defence will have to be cautious of throughout the game on Saturday night. 

The name in the Valencia squad fans will be most familiar with is left back Jose Gaya, who has played for them his entire career and is still going strong at 31. He has played against Real Madrid 21 times during his career, winning five times, drawing four and losing 12. He has never scored against Los Blancos, but has registered two assists.

But, ultimately, it is a very poor Valencia squad, and nothing like some of their prime iterations. So, if the team are serious, they will be able to win this game without a lot of fuss. This matches up with the bookmakers too, who have priced Jose Mourinho's  side up as the heavy favourites to win the game and take all three points back to the capital.