Unai Emery, the coach of Valencia, affirmed that he is convinced that his team will make the most of their significant advantage to advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League when they travel to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion on Thursday.
Valencia will welcome Chelsea at the Mestalla Stadium and the hosts are plotting a downfall for the Blues. Coach Unai Emery declared that every Chelsea player will be regarded as “an enemy”. He further explained that it was the fans’ right to witness a great match on Wednesday night.
La Liga Table
Valencia currently sit above everyone else with three wins out of three. Nine points, a goal difference of three with six goals scored and three conceded has been good enough to give them a narrow advantage over Real Betis, who share the same amount of points.
Barcelona have scored fifteen goals and conceded only two thus far, yet - as a result of their costly 2-2 draw away to Sociedad on September 10 - they can only afford a place in the fourth position. A win for the hosts at the Mestalla would eventually cause a huge damage to Barca’s season, knowing that arch-rivals Real Madrid could hence regain the edge in the standings - depending on their score line against Racing Santander.
It will be a return to the Mestalla this weekend for Real Madrid as they take on Valencia in a La Liga match. Three days ago was the last time Mourinho and co visited Valencia's ground and coincidentally, they defeated Barcelona to win the Copa del Rey in a dramatic match that saw Cristiano Ronaldo clinch the winner during extra time.
Nevertheless, tomorrow's occasion does sound like a gigantic clash but the shape of the La Liga table and the prospects of Champions League matches could possible dampen the level of intensity ahead of this clash. The La Liga seems more like a lost battle for Los Blancos as they trail Barca by eight points with only six more matches remaining.
Following their loss away to Barcelona, Real Madrid are expected to put up the kind of performance that will see them bounce back against Valencia tonight.