There has been a fair bit of content going around in the media world regarding Spanish football over the past week - from the FIFA Ballon d'Or and the stunning form of FC Barcelona to Real Madrid's expulsion from the Copa Del Rey and the shock appointment of Gary Neville at Valencia. Little has been said about today's game, with Barça visiting the Mestalla.
Valencia - free and highly motivated
Over the past eight matches between both sides, Barça have four wins and four draws. This has proven to be a tricky fixture, with Valencia being especially tough opponents for Barça. Last season, Luis Enrique's men won both fixtures by narrow one-goal margins. Barça currently are on six consecutive league wins. On paper, this should be a formality for Barça, with Los Che not performing up to expectations and Barça being in ridiculously brilliant form.
The sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this week has changed the dynamic of this game from the perspective of Valencia. With Nuno around, the players were clearly unhappy and there was a detachment between Nuno and his squad. Álvaro Negredo could be used as a symbol of that discontent and disharmony. Negredo was frequently dropped from the starting XI and even excluded from Nuno's overall matchday squad. This was despite being called "la bomba" when he was signed in Summer 2014. Granted, Negredo had not been in top form in his first season at the Mestalla. However, his goalscoring record is very much proven in La Liga. With Nuno gone, Negredo could be a particular threat today. Negredo will be raring to go and prove a point to Nuno. Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul is another one excluded by Nuno and he will have a point to prove.
In general, the Valencia players will have had a renewed sense of optimism since Nuno's sacking. The dark cloud has been blown away. The inevitable and cliched "honeymoon effect" could kick in today against Barça. A Valencia side, which contains undoubted quality in the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Enzo Pérez and Paco Alcácer et al, with a point to prove and the renewed sense of freedom and optimism could prove a very tricky opponent for Barça.
Barça - own worst enemy
It feels like in every Key Battles piece, I keep trotting out this "own worst enemy" line. That, however, does not make it any less true with the level of quality throughout this team, not to mention one of the best forward tridents of all time. At this level, the players are their own worst enemy. From back to front, the players need to stay focused. Lucho will make sure of that.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar have scored 30 league goals between them so far. Neymar currently holds the best goals-to-minutes ratio of one goal every 76 minutes. Peculiarly, behind Málaga, Valencia are the team which has faced Neymar the most times without him scoring. Thankfully, if Neymar does not fire today, we can be highly confident that Messi and/or Suárez will. It is hard to see Barça not scoring today. However, as we know, a shock result can happen anytime and anywhere. Stay focused and that will not be the case today.
A clean sheet should be the aim. There's a great chance of that if Gerard Piqué keeps up his good form today and plays as well as his Real Madrid-related banter on Twitter has been this past week.
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