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.
The Werkself conceded a late goal to suffer the third defeat of the season in Monday night's Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga fixture on matchday ten. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 2-1 at SC Freiburg. Vanessa Fudalla (65’) scored the only goal for Bayer 04 who are now fifth in the table on 19 points.
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Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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The last international break of this calendar year features the final qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. An overview of who's playing where and when from a Leverkusen point of view.
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