VALENCIA FOOTBALL
WILL VALENCIA BE IN EUROPE NEXT SEASON? As the sun sets and Britain finally leaves the European Union, Valencia fans are asking themselves will the club remain in Europe next season. Currently they are targeting that mission on three separate fronts, the Champions League, the Copa Del Rey and La Liga itself. The most unlikely is automatic entry into the Champions League next time by winning the trophy outright this year. After finishing top of a tough group that included both Chelsea and Ajax, the draw for the first round of the knock out stages and the last sixteen pitted Los Che against Atalanta of Italy.
Valencia ranks from the starting line-up that day, (Gayá, Parejo, Soler and Rodrigo) whilst a fifth, Jaume Doménech, replaced Neto during the game. The Italians won that match by the odd goal in three. They have been on fire in front of goal since the start of the year, having planted five goals past Parma in Bergamo, and an amazing seven goals past Simone Zaza’s Torino in Turin a few weeks ago. The club, that were formed by Swiss students in 1907, have a multi-national look to them. Their main threats being Brazilian Rafael Toloi, (who scored in the 2017 Trofeo Naranja) Slovenian Josip Iličić, the German born midfielder Robin Gosens, Dutch centre half Marten de Roon, and the very talented Croatian Mario Pašalić, who is on loan from Chelsea.
I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues) are based in Bergamo and played against Valencia at the Mestalla as recently as August 2017 when the two teams met in the Trofeo The first leg will be played at the Naranja. 21,000 Gewiss Stadium on February Only four players remain in the the 19th, with the return fixture Article © 2020 24/7 Valencia
gracing the Mestalla early in March. Another way Valencia can guarantee European football next year is by retaining the Copa Del Rey. This year’s victors will get automatic entry into the Europa League group stage. This little nugget will prove just as enticing for many clubs as the Spanish Super Cup. That debacle took place in Saudi Arabia just after Three Kings. Ironically, the League champions Barcelona and the Cup Winners Valencia got knocked out in the semi-finals by Atlético and Real Madrid respectively, meaning neither winners of silverware in 2019 were in the Super Cup final. As a direct consequence of that, the 2020 Copa Del Rey structure has a new complicated format. This means that the four competitors that competed in this year’s Super Cup get a bye right up to the round
