• Live.Valencia - Atlético (V / 21: 00)

Three points in the classification. Atletico, fourth, with 39 points and ejected from the paradise of the fight for the League. Valencia, seventh, with 37 looking for the final assault on that Champions League that it seemed was going to conquer with a project that still had no roof. The season was too steep for both of them, who face Mestalla today trying to regain their identity. Diego Simeone seeks her against the "vertigo and anxiety" that produces not being able to handle matches, without the offensive capacity of other times and with whom they must contribute, Álvaro Morata and Diego Costa, shaken by injuries. The first will be in Valencia; The second must wait. Liverpool looks out on the horizon demanding caution.

Opposite will have a safe rival in his stadium, but in search of his balance and with the same doubts. Albert Celades Valencia is still under construction while the season is running. It makes the rubber with the aim of being the reliable team that resulted at the end of last season. The change in style has come accompanied by a plague of injuries that only Dani Parejo has avoided. The rest, all have gone through the infirmary.

"We are two teams that have adapted to a season with many casualties," recalled Celades. The Andorran is still waiting for a central, which does not arrive, to replace Garay and faces a vital week without Rodrigo and Coquelin, with discomfort, Gameiro and Guedes recently recovered and the only good news that Gayà's ankle has responded well to the rest. The load of minutes that the healthy people accumulate supposed a slab in the last matches, lacking in physical and mental freshness, essential elements to compete against Atlético and on Wednesday when the Atalanta is deployed in San Siro.

32 conceded goals

Celades does not believe that the defeat against Getafe and the expulsion are signs of a negative dynamic, although he does not deny the major challenge of facing Atlético, "a team that fits very little, very solid and punishes you to the minimum" , without losing sight of what awaits you in Milan. "Because in the League there is room to recover, but in the Champions they kick you out," he recalled.

With an offensive baggage better than last season (33 goals against 24), the problem remains at the close: 32 goals are too many, especially since the rivals find them with only two shots on goal. The solid Valencia has vanished.

In this transit, the two coaches live marked. Simeone has the first critical voices that seem to begin to verbalize the end of an era. "I don't understand being questioned, but we know the world we live in," says Celades. They accompany him from the beginning of his in Valencia. He is a rookie on the benches of a club, but the commandments that guide the lives of technicians are well known. He has seen how he was sought to replace a Copa and Axis champion coach and how Barcelona fired Ernesto Valverde when he was the League leader. Simeone is just one more example.

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  • Rodrigo Moreno
  • Ernesto Valverde
  • Diego Costa
  • sports
  • Valencia CF
  • Atlético de Madrid
  • First division
  • Diego Simeone
  • Champions League

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