The Blanquinegros (the White and Blacks) have just experienced their biggest success in recent club history. In the final of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish cup competition, Valencia surprisingly beat Barcelona 2-1 to lift the domestic cup trophy for an eighth time. The team from the port city had an impressive season last term. After finishing third in their Champions League group, Valencia reached the semi-finals of the Europa League where their dreams of winning the tournament ended with defeat against Arsenal. Valencia will again be in Europe's premier club competition in the coming season with the team coached by Marcelino finishing behind the 'big' three clubs – Barca, Real and Atletico Madrid – in fourth spot just like Bayer 04. And there are not just parallels with the Werkself in terms of final league position. Just before Christmas, Valencia were in the bottom half of the table but the team had a brilliant second half of the season and they took fourth place late on to secure a ticket for the Champions League.
Valencia were certainly active in the transfer market during the summer break. In the middle of July, the Blanquinegros completed spectacular business with league rivals Celta Vigo to secure the rights to the highly talented central striker Maxi Gómez from Uruguay. Not only a fee in double digit millions went to Vigo but also Valencia's star striker Santi Mina as well as central defender Jorge Sáenz on loan. There was also activity right at the back as well as up front: The Holland goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen joined Valencia from Barcelona with the previous regular keeper Neto moving on to the Catalans. Here too, the player exchange also saw money move from Valencia to Barcelona. With the exception of Neto and Mina, the regular players from last season were retained so the team should be well organised. The key part of the team is the captain Dani Parejo, who has been the maestro in central midfield for the past eight years. The now 30-year-old produced such outstanding performances last season that he played a role in the Spanish national side at this somewhat late stage in his career. Parejo played his first full 90 minutes for the Furia Roja in the 3-0 victory over Sweden in the Euro qualifiers in June.
With the signing of Cillessen, Valencia hope to have achieved an upgrade in the goalkeeper position. The Dutchman must however first prove that he has the consistency to be a regular first choice keeper after being the understudy to Marc-André ter Stegen at Barcelona for the past three years that saw him almost exclusively playing in goal in the Copa del Rey. The lack of match practice could be a problem at the start of the season. There is also room for improvement for Valencia at their home ground the Estadio Mestalla. In 19 league games at home last season, the 'Bats’ only secured seven wins – not really enough for a top team.
Under coach Marcelino, Valencia have established themselves as the fourth club behind Barcelona plus Real and Atletico from Madrid. The club now have to defend this position before a long-term assault on the three leading teams would appear to be a realistic proposition. However, as in previous years, the Blanquinegros now have another impressive squad, above all, with the two highly talented wingers Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes (both 22) likely to make great progress this season so that both players could be on the radar of top clubs in Europe.
Bayer 04 face a real test in the conclusion of the pre-season – hopefully with a better outcome for Leverkusen than last year. Ahead of the start of the 2018 season, Valencia secured a convincing 3-0 victory over the Werkself – albeit at the Estadio Mestalla. As with Bayer 04, Valencia start their league campaign on 17 August, although they do not have a cup tie before that. Spectators at the season launch can expect a high quality friendly with a top Spanish side as opponents. The Werkself can only meet Valencia in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Both teams are in pot three and therefore cannot be in the same group.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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