Valencia can only play for third place

Just six years ago, Valencia were champions of Spain and all signs directed at a club going in the right direction and probably halt Real Madrid’s dominance, and fast forward, 2010/11 season, the club will be fighting hard like never before to even finish third! How times can change. With Barcelona and Real Madrid obviously the teams to beat, it’s likely that Valencia will finish third in La Liga and claim a place in the Champions League. The same position they attained last season, despite finishing a massive 25 points behind second-placed Madrid. To anyone who has been following European football in the last decade of so, you’ll have to admit Valencia are one of the favorite teams to watch and, baring a major collapse, they will be competing at Europe’s top table again next season, as they have done over the years. The duopoly of Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish football in recent years is unmistakable. Their spending has never been more extravagant, and the rest of the division have been well and truly left in their wake. Valencia, once big spenders in the early 2000s, have been forced to critically reconsider their expenditure as their uncertain financial situation caught up with them, forcing them to become a selling club. Valencia are the third most supported club in Spain, behind you know who, and their support has been vital in the last few years as the club have suffered financial problems, which has greatly affected their potential to challenge the Big Two. The club is massively in debt after borrowing money to pay for the building of a new stadium. Massive debts meant that club could not afford to buy top quality players as they used to, which in the end trickles down to how it competes with the big boys not only in Spain but in Europe. However, the one thing which will not appeal to the club fans is the sale of key players, David Villa and David Silva, both Spanish internationals. David Villa’s sale to Spanish champions, Barcelona may have been financially viable as the club needed to balance books, but it only created a larger gap between the qualities of both sides. Valencia managers, more than anyone else knew (when they accepted Barca’s bid) and still know (after he left) that Villa cannot be replaced (easily). He was the focal point, the team’s heartbeat for close to four seasons, and his loss will be greatly felt when the new season gets underway. David Silva was also duly enticed to swap the Mestalla for the English Premiership with moneybags Manchester City. Giant Croatian striker Nikola Zigic has gone, too, with Birmingham City of the Premiership his destination. After selling their best players in order to pay debts and with the squads of Real Madrid and Barcelona only getting stronger, Valencia’s life won’t be made any easy whether in Spain or Europe as the club seeks to stay in touch at the business end of the table. Valencia have strengthened with some of the money received from the sell of their star players, to bring Spanish striker Roberto Soldado from Getafe, Alberto Costa from Montpellier, French under-21 international Sofiane Feghouli from Grenoble, Ricardo Costa, Mehmet Topal from Turkish side Galatasaray and Aritz Aduriz arrives from Mallorca. However, for every penny they spend, Real Madrid and Barcelona spend ten more – which makes it even harder (than ever before) to break their duopoly, but that’s the nature of the market conditions not only in Spain but in England as well where the gap between the big spenders and the small spenders is growing even bigger by the other year. Despite selling Villa and Silva, measures have been taken to ensure that Valencia remain competitive for the upcoming season, but they, for the foreseeable future will remain a team to challenge Atletico Madrid and Sevilla for third place – not a team that can cope with the power of the ‘Big Two’ nku78@yahoo.com