La Liga: Los Che and Los Blancos Meet at Mestalla

Valencia vs Real Madrid

Some pundits say Real Madrid’s class of 2020 is no great shakes.

To a degree, this observer can understand where that sentiment is coming from. They certainly are not the force they were from 2016-18 when they won one league championship and three Champions League titles in a row.

Yet two months into the new season and Zinedine Zidane’s men are sitting pretty in La Liga with five wins and a draw from their first seven games and lie second in the table, and they are ready to pounce.

Perhaps crucially, even at this early stage, they already hold an eight-point lead over archrivals Barcelona and their opponents this weekend in Valencia.

Real are also winning most of their games when under pressure as proved when they saw off Inter Milan in a Champions League thriller in midweek, and it’s clear Zidane has found a way to make Los Blancos tick again!

Under Zidane, Madrid seems to win when it matters most.

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Talking Points

That’s not to say that the Frenchman has not had to face difficult scenarios himself.

Mirroring the situation some former players find themselves in when they emerge as fairly rookie managers at big clubs where they were a star player, read Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard at Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.

Here in Madrid, Zidane has found his position under threat on a few occasions during his two spells as coach.

For all of the trophies he has brought to the club, there have been delicate moments when some felt he may go the same way as Rafa Benitez and Julen Lopetegui, who failed to get past their first crisis at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and were sacked after five and three months respectively.

The difference is Zidane has always found a way to bounce back, something he has done again over the past month after surprise defeats to Cadiz and Shakhtar Donetsk in Europe – more accurately really against Donetsk reserves.

To win the latest El Clasico in Barca’s backyard and beat big-spending Inter has shown that Zidane appears to have the Midas touch more often than not.

Can they create more La Liga 2020 highlights this weekend?

Valencia are determined to hold Real Madrid down in their anticipated La Liga match — Karim Benzema celebrates scoring Real Madrid’s first goal in La Liga match against Valencia at Alfredo Di Stefano

Well, he certainly has a near full-strength squad at his disposal with Daniel Carvajal the main absentee. Nacho Fernandez, Álvaro Odriozola, and Eder Militao are also absent.

As they aim to end a four-game winless run — with three of those ending in defeat — Valencia and their manager Javi Gracia must have hoped for an easier fixture than the visit of the champions.

The squad has gone through some upheaval this summer and for this one Thierry Correira is suspended after his sending off against Getafe last weekend while Mouctar Diakhaby remains out.

Valencia should not be ruled out completely though.

Last week’s draw was achieved despite being down to 10 men for much of the match. While in September, they won away at Real Sociedad who are the early leaders going into this weekend.

The visit of Real Madrid often leads them to raise their game too.

An away win is on the cards but it’s not an away banker.

History

Valencia have proven to be a tricky opponent for Real in the past and held them to a 1-1 draw in last season’s corresponding fixture at the Mestalla in December.

More recently, however, Real triumphed against them in the Spanish Super Cup in January with a 3-1 victory courtesy of goals from Toni Kroos, Isco, and Luka Modric.

They also beat them 3-0 in June with a little help from VAR after the restart as they marched towards the La Liga title.

Being two of the oldest clubs in the Spanish top-flight, they have played each other in the league on 170 occasions. Real have won 88, while Valencia won in 45 and the remaining 37 have ended in draws.

More recently in the last 11 meetings between the two clubs, there have been five Real successes, four draws, and two Valencia triumphs.