The question on every Valencia supporter’s mind is “What kind of season will Valencia have?” Many find themselves unable to give a decisive answer. The bookmakers consider the club closer to relegation candidates than league winners and pre-season matches have not given many clues away, with one win on home soil and no victories away from the Mestalla.

The friendly matches in the run up to La Liga started with a loss against Castellón in what was undoubtedly used by Los Che to experiment on certain positions. Next followed Leganés and Olympique Marseille, which ended in credible draws before Valencia travelled their furthest summer quest yet to Germany to provide opposition to Borussia Monchengladbach on what was part of the latter’s 125th anniversary celebrations.The guest of honour that day was Rainer Bonhof, the West German international, who had illustrious careers with both clubs. Victory went to the hosts, who struck with two goals late in the second half to win the game comfortably.

Undoubtedly, Valencia best effort to date was their emphatic defeat of the Italian club Torino in the Trofeo Naranja. This curtain raiser for the league, when the players are presented to the home fans individually before the game, was in its 53rd edition, and as always, featured a top class club from around the world. Pele’s Santos graced the tournament in 1959 when it was a triangular event and he scored the first goal for his club in a spectacular 4-4 draw. Another highlight was in 1972, when Bayern Munich played alongside Valencia and Feyenoord of Holland in the event.

Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller all started in the game for the Bavarians against Los Che that ended 1-1. More recent visitors have been Arsenal and Aston Villa. The game against Torino possibly marked the coming of age of Javi Guerra. He arguably had his best ever game for Valencia, whilst netting a brace in the process. Luis Rioja contributed with another goal as the hosts secured a comprehensive win. So, the pre-season friendlies mirrored last season’s efforts in many ways. Strong at home but fickle on the road. If Los Che want an elevated status in the league this campaign, then more points away from the Mestalla are essential.

In terms of personnel, it seems Valencia have bought well in the transfer window. They have lost key players regarding Mamardashvili (Liverpool), Mosquera (Arsenal) Gasiorowski (PSV) Cenk (FC Koln) and more recently Fran Pérez to Rayo Vallecano. However, they have bought Julen Agirrezabala (Athletic Bilbao), José Copete (Real Mallorca) and  Danjuma (Villarreal) as like-for-like replacements.

Unfortunately, Sadiq and Barrenechea have both returned to the clubs that own them. Valencia showed interest in getting both back. Talks with Real Sociedad regarding Sadiq are ongoing but Enzo has left Aston Villa now for Benfica in Portugal, and he will be difficult to replace. Baptiste Santamaria has been purchased to try to do that and emulate the performances of the Argentine. Also, the former Youngs Boys midfielder and newcomer Filip Ugrinić may also be tried out in that midfield anchor role at some point in the near future.

The striker Dani Raba signed early in the summer from Leganés and has scored in the warm up games and shown positive signs leading the attack, but the addition of Sadiq would please many of the ‘socios’ and give Carlos Corberán a more direct attacking option. The computer-based fixture assignments dictated Valencia played the San Sebastian side Real Sociedad at the Mestalla in game one of 2025/26 La Liga. Of the new signings, only Copete and Raba got to be part of the starting eleven but Danjuma, Santamaria and Ugrinić did get some playing time during the course of the contest.

For the Basques, the former Valencia favourite Gonçalo Guedes came on as a substitute but had little impact as the game fizzled out to a stalemate. Valencia played well in patches and took the lead ten minutes into the second half through Diego López. Holding on to leads was also an ‘Achilles’ heel’ for Valencia last year and inside four minutes Real Sociedad were back on level par, courtesy of an equaliser from their Japanese international Kubo.

Was it a point gained or two points dropped against one of the better teams in La Liga in recent years? It is difficult to say at this time if it was a positive or a negative but, once again, Valencia tread water and find a middle ground, suggestive of a mid-table finish as the most likely scenario come the end of the season.

Over at Levante UD, their fans will be content to extend their stay in La Liga by the end of the campaign. Their one key departure was Giorgi Kochorashvili to Sporting Lisbon, but in return the team from the North of the city have had a healthy influx of new faces.

Notable arrivals are Alan Maturro (Genoa) Jon Ander Olasagasti (Real Sociedad), Matias Moreno (Florentina), Kervin Arriaga (Partizan) and Jeremy Toljan (Sassulo). The latter equalised for Levante in their opening match of La Liga and, for all intents and purposes, it looked like a point was heading back to Valencia… until Alavés struck an injury time winner. With FC Barcelona next on the schedule, a sold out ‘Ciutat de València’ will be hopeful of an upset in order for Levante to not go pointless from their first two matches back in the top flight.

Report by John Howden

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

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