THE 150TH VALENCIA DERBY BETWEEN VALENCIA CF AND LEVANTE UD!

The third biggest city in Spain has not had much to shout about in football terms in recent years, but two occasions that are always instantly recognisable to Valencia and Levante fans are the dates the teams clash in La Liga. The latest match-up was the 150^th between both teams, counting both official and friendly matches. At the Mestalla on Friday, the form book went of the window as the teams looked to claim football bragging rights throughout the “barrios” of Valencia until next February, when the return fixture takes place at the home of Levante.

Football was considered to be introduced to the city by followers of the sport in Great Britain, who worked in the citrus industry and visited and worked in the city regularly in the early 20^th century. Historically, Valencia CF have been the most successful but it is Los Granotas that are the oldest club, having been founded in 1909. Their first president was José Ballester (born in El Cabanyal) who created the club as a teenager. Levante then started life extensively in the “Poblados Maritimos”, the five neighbourhoods in the city next to the sea.

With time, the club has inched further North in the city. Ballester, a staunch Republican, was never forgotten by the club for his exploits, despite fleeing to France after the civil war and being sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison.

His final wish was to be buried in El Cabanyal along with his wife and the club honoured that fact in September by arranging for their remains to be returned to the city from France. A short ceremony was held at the VIP box in the Levante stadium before Ballester and his wife Teresa Molins Gasauch were laid to rest in the local cemetery.

These days, at every Levante game the fans hold their scarfs above their heads and wave frantically on the 19 minutes and 09 seconds mark as a small reminder of the club’s legacy.

It was ten years afterwards that Valencia came along and the club was officially recorded in March 1919 into the statute books. A plaque in the city centre at (what was) the Bar Torino commemorates this act. A month later Los Che played their first ever game, away to Valencian Gimnastic in Castellon, losing by a solitary goal.

A year later the first true Valencia derby took place. Also known locally as the Turia derby (after the river that used to run through the city) it was played in the Liga Campeonato Regional de Valencia.

Levante took an early lead but were soon pegged back and the sides went into the interval level at one goal apiece. Valencia proved to be stronger in the second half and added two goals to run out victors by three goals to one. The game was played at Valencia’s first ever ground Camp de Algiros which Los Che used as their home venue before moving to the Mestalla in 1923.

Some of the more memorable games have occurred this century with arguably the stand out one for Valencia being their 5-1 victory away from home in 2007/2008 season when David Villa scored a hat trick.

Only a season earlier, Levante had secured their biggest victory over their neighbours by winning 4-2 at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia.

In an incident packed game that boiled over at times Levante had one player sent off (Oliver Kapo) and Valencia three (Cañizares, Ayala and Marchena). Riga Mustapha netted a brace for the hosts with Laurent Cortois and Salvador Ballesta Vialcho also scoring for Los Granotas, whilst Joaquin and Ruben Baraja bagged consolation goals for the visitors.

As controversial as that game was, arguably the biggest point of discussion to come from the “Turia derbys” is the “ghost goal” by Mista in 2005.

Leading through a Ruben Baraja effort Valencia were awarded a second goal when a Mista effort was adjudged to have crossed the line by referee Teixeira Vitienes.

The Levante keeper Juan Luis Mora claimed the Mista header never crossed the line after he had pushed it onto the post but his claims fell on deaf ears. Levante pulled a goal back through Congo but the questionable goal proved the decisive factor in Valencia winning the game.

This week, the two protagonists met at a meeting organised by the sports press of Valencia at the Novotel Hotel Levant to discuss the goal “el fantasma”, and not surprisingly, both players continue to have differing opinions, despite the twenty years that have past.

Levante had a much happier visit to the Mestalla in the 2010/2011 season when on the final day of the league campaign they required a result of any kind to stave off relegation and secure La liga status.

They eked out a goal less draw to claw their way to safety, and consequently, stayed in the top flight of Spanish football for another five seasons before being relegated back to Division One.

Close to 100 players have represented the colours of both Valencia and Levante, with Faas Wilkes, Predrag Mijatović and Roberto Soldado being among the most successful. Current players who are likely to participate in this Friday’s derby who have donned both jerseys include Pepelu and Mat Ryan.

Having the Valencia derby back on the La Liga calendar gave some comfort to both sets of fans who are suffering this season. It was Carlos Corberan’s first time in charge of Los Che against their city rivals, and the Cheste born manager was hoping for a result to finally kick start his team’s season.

His counterpart Julian Calero also experienced this contest as a “rookie” and he was without the services of Pablo Martinez, who is out with an ankle injury. All eyes for the visitors were on Carlos Alvarez and Etta Eyong, who have been two of the outstanding performers for Levante since their return to the top flight.

With La Liga aspirations for silverware and Europe already looking slim for both sides, the Copa Del Rey looks the only way for domestic success. Valencia’s latest opponents will be Cartegena in Murcia on March 12^th, whilst Levante will travel to the same province the day before to take on Club Deportivo Cieza. Both matches will form part of the second round of Spain’s premier domestic cup competition.

A 71st minute overhead kick by Hugo Duro was enough to settle the 150th “Turia derby” in the favour of Valencia. In a post-match interview, the Getafe-born striker agreed with the posed question by a reporter that it was his best ever goal. Few who witnessed the occurrence would disagree with that declaration! The build up to the match itself was not without issues for both teams. Earlier in the week, Valencia sacked its Sporting Director Miguel Angel Corona and took disciplinary action against their goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. The North Macedonian, who leaked in seven goals in the World Cup qualifying match against Wales, recently heavily criticised the Valencia manager Carlos Corberán for his lack of playing time. He even suggested the current number one Julen Agirrezabala had a clause in his loan contract stating he must start every match when fit. Corberán vehemently denied this and Dimitrievski later backtracked and apologised for his unprofessional outburst.

Levante UD had problems too. Three of their players had been with their respective countries on international duty around the world. Mathew Ryan was with the Australian set up that lost to Colombia in New York. Etta Eyong and Kevin Arriaga both participated in the latest matches for Cameroon and Honduras.

Eyong had more time from his African trip to recover than the others, and Ryan did not play for his country so both were named in Calero’s starting eleven. The latter Arriaga did not touch down in Valencia until Thursday. So, unsurprisingly, he was assigned to the substitution bench. Perhaps more debatable was the fact that Lucas Beltrán was preferred to Hugo Duro by Corberán in the number nine role for Valencia at the commencement at the game. Up to that point, the Italian had not had a shot on goal in all the minutes he had played in the Valencia colours. That changed inside 10 minutes when he had a great chance to open the scoring. Unmarked and just outside the six-yard box he latched onto a cross first time, only to see his effort parried away by Ryan. That proved to be the best chance in a scruffy first half that Levante just edged without ever really looking threatening themselves.

The opportunity of the visitors having their first derby win since April 2022 looked a distinct possibility at the interval but Valencia kicked their performance up a notch in the second period, especially after Hugo Duro entered the game. Valencia did have the ball in the net soon after when Diego Lopez slotted the ball home from close range. With little complaint from the Levante players, the goal had its obligatory reference to VAR… for what seemed like a sanction formality. An age past before it was deemed that Hugo Duro had a foot in an offside position in the build-up. As he had provided the head down that led to the opportunity, the goal was ruled out much to the frustration of the Valencia faithful and the delight of the Levante UD supporters.

The best piece of skill in the whole game was worthy of deciding this tense encounter. A hopeful cross by José Luis Gayà was travelling behind Duro who had his back to goal. He reset his balance and with an overhead bicycle kick with his weaker left foot, he planted the ball past a bewildered Mathew Ryan to send the Mestalla into raptures.

Levante UD had a golden chance to equalise, when their team’s talisman José Luis Morales was through one on one with the Valencia keeper. The stadium held its breath as his curling effort went agonisingly wide of the post by the minimum of inches. The visitors did not manage to capitalise on the eight added minutes of time and Valencia held on to a valuable three points to ease relegation worries for themselves and pile more pressure on the team from the North of the city.

Report by John Howden

Article copyright 24/7 Valencia

FOOTBALL CALENDAR

Valencia CF

Rayo Vallecano v Valencia CF Dec 1st 21.00h

Cartegena v Valencia CF Copa del Rey Dec 4th 21.00h

Valencia CF v Sevilla Dec 7th 16.15h

Atlético Madrid v Valencia CF Dec 13th 14.15h

Valencia CF v Mallorca Dec 19th 21.00h

Levante UD

Levante UD v Athletic Bilbao Nov 29th 18.30h

Cieza v Levante UD Copa del Rey Dec 3rd 21.00