Valencia will welcome fellow Spanish side Levante to the Ciutat Deportiva de Valencia on Wednesday, as both sides engage in a pre-season friendly as preparation for the new season.
This will be the third friendly meeting between the two sides from Valencia, with Los Che having won one and the other ending in a draw.
Match preview
Valencia fell short of European qualification last season, finishing ninth in La Liga with 49 points, two places and seven points adrift of the Europa Conference League spot.
Manager Ruben Baraja committed his future to the club until June 2026 after guiding them to safety in 2022-23 and matching their best league finish in the previous five years.
Boasting the youngest squad in the division, Los Che were afforded some leeway for their inconsistent form last term, but expectations will be higher this time around.
Valencia's pre-season preparations have been underwhelming so far - a 3-1 victory over Racing CF Benidorm in their opening friendly was followed with a goalless draw against second-tier side Castellon before suffering back-to-back defeats against Alaves and PSV.
With three more friendlies to come against Levante, Leeds United and Eintracht Frankfurt, Baraja will be hoping to have his side ready for the La Liga opener against Barcelona on 17 August.
Levante have spent the last two seasons in the Spanish second tier after relegation in 2021-22 and will be aiming to secure promotion at the third attempt.
Los Azulgranas finished third in the Segunda División and reached the promotion playoffs in their first season back but were ultimately runners-up.
However, the most recent campaign was a disappointment as they finished eighth in the table, missing out on the playoffs by five points.
Julian Calero was appointed as the club's new manager in June following Felipe Minambres's return to a directorial role, and he will be looking to lead the team to the top flight next season.
The visitors have enjoyed a positive pre-season so far, beating Castellon 1-0, Qatar SC 4-0 and drawing 1-1 against Alaves, which will give them confidence ahead of their league opener against Sporting Gijon on August 18.
Team News
Valencia will be without Cristhian Mosquera and Diego Lopez, who are currently with Spain at the 2024 Olympics.
Centre-back Yarek Gasiorowski is also away with the European Under-19s Championship in Northern Ireland.
New goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski was in between the sticks against PSV, while Rafa Mir, who joined on loan from Sevilla featured for 77 minutes.
Levante have also made a number of additions this summer, including Jose Morales from Villareal and Vicente Iborra from Greek side Olympiacos.
Goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor was promoted to the first team, and he could be in post once again against Valencia.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Foulquier, Tarrega, Cenk, Vazquez; Pepelu, Almeida, Tejon, Canos; Mir, Duro
Levante possible starting lineup:
Alfonso, Elgezabal, Brugue, Algobia, Martinez; Morales, Fabricio, Cabello, Rey, Navarro, Xavi Grande
We say: Valencia 1-1 Levante
Valencia have not been convincing in previous pre-season matches, while Levante are unbeaten in their friendlies, which could give them the confidence to get something from this game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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