At the end of 2024, Valencia CF completed the first half of the current league campaign with a mere twelve points from seventeen matches. This tally ranked as the worst in the club’s history at this stage of the season in terms of points-to-matches ratio.With performances yielding such poor results, the position of club legend Rubén Baraja became untenable. No-one was surprised when  he was relieved of his duties as manager, just before Christmas, by owner Peter Lim. The Singaporean businessman acted quickly in naming a successor. Local born coach Carlos Corberán was appointed as the first-team manager. Valencia paid a release clause of a few million euros to secure Corberán from English Championship club West Bromwich Albion. The Cheste-raised coach returned to his boyhood club after nearly a twenty-year hiatus.

Corberán, who chose early on to focus on coaching rather than goalkeeping, brings a wealth of experience despite never having worked in LaLiga before. He has coached in Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Greece, and England, and counts both Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa among his admirers. It was Guardiola who recommended him to Al Ittihad, while Corberán also served as first-team coach under Bielsa during the Argentine’s tenure at Leeds United. Bielsa once remarked that he valued Corberán’s opinion “more than his own.”

Fittingly, Corberán’s debut in LaLiga was a baptism of fire, as his first match was against Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti. Valencia put in a spirited performance in the rearranged ‘Dana’ fixture at the Mestalla, coming close to bagging all three points before ultimately losing out. As is typical of home games against Madrid, the match was a passionate, high-octane affair. The hosts matched their opponents stride for stride in the first half and were deserving of their one-goal advantage at halftime, courtesy of Hugo Duro.

As often happens when Madrid trail after the first 45 minutes, they come out even stronger in the second half. This was the case in point and they had a golden chance to equalize when the referee awarded a controversial penalty to ‘Los Merengues’ on the hour mark. However, Jude Bellingham’s effort hit the post and rebounded to safety.

Valencia seemed to be weathering the Madrid storm until the game exploded into controversy ten minutes from time. A clash between Vinícius Jr. and Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski led to the Real Madrid striker losing his composure and striking the Macedonian shot-stopper in the head. While the contact was minimal, it was enough for referee César Soto Grande to review the incident via VAR, resulting in a straight red card for the Brazilian.

The expulsion appeared to galvanize Madrid, and Ancelotti responded by introducing Luka Modrić immediately after going down to ten men.

For the final ten minutes of regulation time, plus injury time, the Croatian maestro dominated the midfield and played a pivotal role in turning the game around for the visitors. Modrić scored the equalizer, which deflated a resolute Valencia side. A misplaced back pass from Hugo Guillamón then allowed Bellingham a one-on-one chance against Dimitrievski, which he duly converted.

Valencia had gone toe-to-toe with one of the world’s best teams and held their own, despite the fruitless outcome. The New Year and new era began with a promising performance, even if it lacked a result.

By comparison, Valencia’s next game was a less glamorous Copa del Rey fixture against their regional counterparts, Club Deportivo Eldense.

Elda, the seventh-largest city in the region, is better known for its fashionable women’s shoes and the flamenco dancer Antonio Gades. Nevertheless, the club competes in Liga Hypermotion, Spain’s second division. However, like Valencia, they are enduring a difficult season. Eldense have collected just three points from their last six matches and sit 19th in their league—mirroring Valencia’s position in La Liga.

The two sides had previously met in the Copa del Rey during the 1962/63 season’s round of 16. Back then, the competition was played over two legs, giving lower-ranked teams more opportunities for financial windfalls. Valencia won the first leg at the Mestalla 8-1, with Uruguayan Héctor Núñez scoring a hat trick. Eldense restored some pride with a 1-0 victory in the return leg. Ricardo Zamora’s son, Ricardo Jr., played both games for Valencia, alongside notable players such as Mestre, Quincoces, and Urtiaga.

For this year’s clash, Corberán opted to field a strong team the day after ‘Three Kings’. Valencia delivered a clinical, professional performance to secure a 2-0 victory, with goals from Canós and López. The match also marked the debut of Nigerian international Umar Sadiq in Valencia’s colours.

Corberán’s first signing, Sadiq, came on as a second-half substitute and impressed, coming close to scoring his first goal. Although his recent goal tally has been modest for Sociedad, if he can rediscover the form he showed at Almería—where he averaged a goal every two games—he could prove to be a valuable January acquisition.

In the next round Valencia have been drawn away to play the Galician side Ourense CF who surprisingly knocked out the LaLiga side Real Valladolid in the last 32 phase of the competition. VAR will also be used from now on for all games for the rest of the tournament.

Elsewhere in the city, Levante UD remains on the fringes of the promotion playoffs. They began 2025 in spectacular fashion, defeating Tenerife 3-0 in the Canary Islands. José Luis Morales was once again on the score sheet for ‘Los Granotas’. Upcoming fixtures against recent La Liga teams Cádiz, Granada, and Deportivo La Coruña will test their promotion ambitions.

Finally, Valencia’s women’s team secured their first Liga F victory of the season at the thirteenth attempt. Unfortunately, the win came at the expense of Levante’s women’s team, who now find themselves in the bottom three… alongside Valencia in the sixteen-team competition.

 Report by John Howden

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

Valencia CF

Sevilla v Valencia 11 Jan 21.00h

Valencia v Real Sociedad 19 Jan 18.30h

FC Barcelona v Valencia  CF 26 Jan 21.00h

Copa del Rey Ourense v Valencia Jan 15 tbd

Levante UD

Cadiz v Levante 12 Jan 16.15h

Levante v Granada 18 Jan 21.00h

Deportivo La Coruña v Levante 25 Jan 18.30h