Date & Time: 17th August 2024, 9:30 PM CET
Venue: Mestalla Stadium
Competition: La Liga 2024/25
As we finally reach the mark on our 2024 calendars commemorating the start of Barcelona’s 2024/25 footballing campaign, they will square off against a formidable foe of Valencia under hostile circumstances.
Although Barca have shown signs of progression in pre season under Hansi Flick, they are coming off a 3-0 humiliation in the Joan Gamper Trophy matchup. Therefore, the Catalans will look to make amends by winning the 3 points against the hosts.
Valencia’s Style of Play
Under Ruben Baraja’s guidance, Valencia have shown the tendency to play a direct brand of football. More specifically, they rely primarily on defensive rigidity and counter attacking offense for productivity.
They possess the ideal combination of both physically gifted players along with certain creative profiles that allows them to play according to Baraja’s vision.
When taking the La Liga 2023/24 season into account, Valencia finished 9th and scored a total of 40 goals and conceded 45 goals for the entirety of the season. For reference, Barcelona conceded a total of 44 goals in La Liga last season.
This further exemplifies the fact that Valencia pride themselves on their defense in order to win points in their league games.
Valencia’s Recent Form
Having gone through an extensive pre season lasting a total of 7 games, Valencia have won 2, drawn 2, and lost 3 games in total. They were able to accumulate a total of 8 goals scored and 8 goals conceded as well.
They suffered defeat in games against solid oppositions such as Alaves, PSV, and Leeds. Moreover, they had 2 scoreless draws against Castellon and Levante. Most notably was their 3-2 win in their most recent matchup against Frankfurt, suggesting that they can churn out winning results against formidable teams.
Valencia’s Threatening Talents
When looking at their offensive prowess, much of Valencia’s productivity comes from the feet of Hugo Duro. Duro’s ability to find spaces in leaky defenses and capitalise on rare chances makes him a vital threat to negate.
As far as creativity is concerned, the Spanish Olympic Gold Winner, Diego Lopez has established himself as Valencia’s most feasible outlet for the purpose of chance creation. His dynamism will keep the Valencia offense activated in the rare instances where they are able to work the ball in spaces.
Ruben Baraja’s confirmation that Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to start despite his rumours of joining Liverpool means that the Barcelona attack’s intent to accumulate goals will be challenged. Arguably the second best goalkeeper in all of La Liga, the Georgian international is most notable at making a large number of saves which allows him to stand firm in the oppositions’s way.
Valencia vs Barcelona Recent H2H Results
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia (La Liga 2023/24)
Valencia 1-1 Barcelona (La Liga 2023/24)
Barcelona 1-0 Valencia (La Liga 2022/23)
Valencia 0-1 Barcelona (La Liga 2022/23)
Valencia 1-4 Barcelona (La Liga 2021/22)
