A duel with hints of the end, but decaffeinated. Valencia and Barça face each other at Mestalla immersed in their own wars, on and off the field, and with an overwhelming difference in quality on the pitch that is only matched by Xavi's team's desire to walk the line. Heads or tails, the matches are always open and the culés know that Mestalla is transforming to become the reinforcement that Baraja needs while Singapore denies it.
Valencia has accumulated four games without winning and, in the last two, they have not even created a scoring chance. That means that since the 1-0 victory against Granada, from a penalty, the team has only added the point from the tie against Celta. He lives on the 19 that keep him in the middle of the table. These are the same numbers that the season obtained at this point under the direction of Gattuso. After a hopeful start, Valencia began to show symptoms after the break for the Qatar World Cup, and reached matchday 16 with 19 points. Then is where it started to fail.. They lost against Cádiz, Real Madrid and Valladolid and Almería drew a draw at Mestalla. These are results that could happen again and would lead the team to a difficult moment.. Barça is followed by a visit to Vallecas and, after the Christmas break, Marcelino and his Villarreal will pass through Valencia. Three complicated games.
There is another similarity that is even more worrying: there will be no reinforcements in January. Only if there is a departure of players with fewer minutes will some adjustment in the form of a loan be studied. The name of Real Madrid youth player Peter Federico is on the agenda. But nothing else. “We don't have a budget,” President Layhoon Chan told shareholders.
“I can't waste energy on that”
Baraja already knows it. Their squad is weak, especially after Gayà's injuries and the suspensions of Paulista and Javi Guerra, three essentials in their eleven. «The staff is fair in number, I have always said it, and also in competition so that everyone's performance is higher. But if it's not possible economically… I can't waste energy on that,” the coach resigned.
Peter Lim does not authorize a single more expense and, furthermore, he sees no risk of relegation. “The largest shareholder does not believe that there is a risk of Valencia going down to Second Division,” the president insisted, even knowing how close they came last season.. That's what the fans think about, that they will meet before the game, once, to protest. This concentration will not overshadow the tribute that the club will pay to David Silva, a former Valencia player and Baraja's locker room partner who will have his canvas on the Mestalla façade.
Xavi's discomfort
It was also the same for Xavi in the national team, but the Barça coach is not there for celebrations. If there is a weapon that works in favor of Valencia, it is the pressure that grips Barça after losing to Girona and in the Champions League.. «A month ago I was going to be Barça's Ferguson and now I'm on the street. “The club needs stability, especially in the post-Messi era and in a very complicated economic situation,” he recalled.. “In LaLiga we are not where we should be, we need points, but things are being done very well and I think we are halfway to making a great Barça,” he said.
Far from the rotations that surprised against Antwerp, Xavi recovers his eleven, with De Jong and the only doubt of whether to bet on Raphina or Ferran's extra motivation to return home.