Valencia is currently in third place in La Liga and the Spanish squad has a four point lead over fourth place Mallorca and a five point lead over fifth place Sevilla. In other words if the season ended today, Valencia would still be top four stuff and qualify for the Champions League next year.
This is critical to the club’s future years of success because of two reasons.
David Villa and David Silva makeup one of potentially the most potent up top attacks in the game. Both players are lethal at what they do and both players are globally recognized as two of the best Spanish footballers in the game. And both men also could be easily persuaded into leaving the squad if they fail to earn a top four berth. In fact Atletico Madrid is going to have to deal with exactly this notion this summer with stars such as Sergio Aguero desiring to leave for a top four English or Italian club due to Atletico’s lack of success in league play this season.
And if you look at Valencia’s remaining schedule it will not be easy for the third place squad. In the next month they have the challenge of facing Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid, and Deportivo. The final month of the season is a bit easier then that stretch of matches with Tenerife and Xerez on the schedule, but Villa’s club will have to face Espanyol and Villareal as well.
The one bit of good news is that Valencia has already played Barcelona twice this season, so they do have some good fortune.
photo credit: funky1opti