The plight of Valencia has been painful to witness for aficionados of Spanish football, as a team that were competing for Champions League qualification only a few years ago have spent the past four seasons dancing with the devil or in mid-table obscurity.
Going through a total of three head coaches, firstly relieving Gennaro Gattuso of his duties in January and handing Voro control of the reins for two weeks, Los Che brought Ruben Baraja back to the club where he spent the glory days of his career between 2000 and 2010, and the 48-year-old managed to keep his side afloat in the big time.
Under Baraja’s guidance, Valencia only suffered two defeats from their final nine La Liga matches to stave off the threat of relegation, although a 16th-placed finish is certainly nothing to write home about, nor is failing to win any of their last three matches of the campaign.
With Valencia only finishing two points better off than La Liga 2-bound Real Valladolid, discontent towards unpopular owner Peter and Lim continues to grow, so much so that the Singapore Consulate in Madrid reportedly received a protest letter from a supporters’ group midway through the season.
Amid the off-field turmoil, Baraja can only focus on the task at hand on the turf, as Valencia also prepare to clash with Spartak Trnava, St. Gallen, Alaves and Aston Villa before attempting to right the wrongs of their forgettable 2022-23 season.
Valencia and Nottingham Forest were both members of the 16th-placed club last season, but while Los Che’s finish was met with disdain, the Tricky Trees reacted with elation upon confirming their Premier League status in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
Hosting an ailing Arsenal side aiming to keep their fleeting title dreams alive on May 20, Nottingham Forest outfought and outplayed the Gunners and deservedly won 1-0 thanks to a Taiwo Awoniyi strike, thus ensuring that Premier League football would remain on the City Ground menu next term.
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Following their unprecedented summer spending spree after returning to the big time, the pressure weighing on Cooper’s shoulders could hardly have been heavier, but the 43-year-old was publicly backed by the board and even earned brief links with the Tottenham Hotspur hotseat after talk of a possible sacking had died down.
Consolidation is now the aim for the Tricky Trees, who begun their pre-season preparations with a slender success over Notts County on Saturday thanks to a strike from the seldom-seen Hwang Ui-jo, and Cooper’s side will also meet Levante as part of their Spanish stopover.
Leeds United, PSV Eindhoven, Rennes and Eintracht Frankfurt also provide a healthy mix of continental pre-season opponents for Forest, who most recently tackled Valencia in the 1980 European Super Cup, losing on the now-abolished away goals rule following a 2-2 aggregate draw.
