After their narrow defeat away to Athletic Bilbao last time out, Valencia has been on both ends of 1-0 results in their first two La Liga (LL) outings. This time, the return of Atlético Madrid to the Mestalla presents coach Gennaro Gattuso with a new challenge – taking on an elite but vulnerable opposition as an underdog. Adding immensely to the challenge is Valencia’s seven seasons of failure to defeat Atlético in LL football (D5, L9).
Whilst he remains busy off the park, chasing the signatures of former loanee Bryan Gil and potentially even striker Edinson Cavani, Gattuso believes Valencia are on a positive trajectory prior to plotting a third consecutive LL home win-to-nil. With three of their next four league outings within the comfort of home, it could be an important period in their pursuit of a return to UEFA competition.
After their first home loss in eight LL outings, which also marked Diego Simeone’s first ever personal defeat to Unai Emery in 16 league games, two upcoming road trips may be an ideal reset after a second half to forget against Villarreal (L 0-2). Such an early setback will be an unfamiliar feeling for Simeone, who had not lost within the first two rounds of a LL season since his first campaign in charge of Atlético in 2011/12.
He was adamant that the loss to Villarreal will not change his plans both tactically and in the transfer market, declaring he has “a very complete squad”. Simeone also promised to be “more competitive” than their third-placed finish last season, in which they only had the league’s fifth-best record as travelling favourites (W8, D2, L4), despite opening the scoring on a near-best 12 occasions across all LL away trips.
Players to watch: Hugo Duro won many admirers as well as a permanent contract with Valencia thanks in part to his three goals across their two 2021/22 clashes with Atlético (D1, L1). Visiting Álvaro Morata will also be keen to impress his suitors here with four of his last five goals in all competitions recorded away from home.
Hot stat: The first half has been the highest scoring half in just one of Atlético’s last 14 competitive fixtures (second half x8, tied count x5).
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