LEVANTE UD (Estadi Ciutat de Valencia)

LA LIGA, LEVANTE 3-0 GETAFE, ATTENDANCE: 13,665

After a day a sightseeing in Valencia and a lovely meal at La Pepica, a restaurant on the beach front, it was time for another slice of Spanish football.

We were absolutely stuffed on Paella and decided to walk it off and, as luck would have it, it was about 5km from the beach to the ground so it was a leisurely stroll to the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, the home of Levante Unión Deportiva.

The club were founded in 1909, a decade before Valencia CF, but have spent virtually all of their existence in the shadow of their more famous neighbours. Another club, Gimnástico FC, were also formed in 1909. After Levante's ground was destroyed in the civil war and Gimnástico lost most of their players, the two clubs merged in 1939.

The club made it's debut in La Liga in 1963 and stayed there for two seasons before spending the next four decades flitting between divisions two and three. The club returned to La Liga in 2004 but went straight back down. The club really established themselves in La Liga after 2010, when they won promotion once more and have stayed ever since, even managing a last 16 run in the Europa League in 2012/13.

When purchasing tickets for the game you could not help but notice posters in the shop window referring to Levante's "Los Rebeloes" Johan Cruyff was there (he played 10 games for the club in 1981) and also a certain Arouna Kone. Koné was on loan at Levante, and scored the winner against Real Madrid in September 2011.

Koné was rested for the final three games of the season because he was "scoring too many goals" as if he reached 18 he would have to return to Sevilla automatically, which he did not want. He moved to Levante on a permanent basis, though the club sold him on immediately to Wigan Athletic for a tidy profit.

Levante were bottom of the table at the start of play having only won four games all season. They were taking on mid-table Getafe but the way they played this evening, they did not look like a bottom of the league side.

The Levante attack was led by former Manchester United player Guiseppe Rossi, who has signed for the club on loan from Fiorentina until the end of the season, and he helped inspire the team to a much needed three points. José Luis Morales opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a superb solo effort, when he cut in from the left, beat a couple of defenders and shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Rossi (43) who doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after Morales was upended.

Getafe had chances in the second half, Álvaro Vázquez missing a virtual open goal from four yards out, steering his effort hitting the post when it was easier to score.

If Getafe had managed to get one back then I suspect the home side may have crumbled. However, In the 81st minute, Joan Verdu made the game safe for the home side to lift them off the foot of La Liga.

Pre-match was spent in a little cafe yards from the ground, where a fine selection of bottled beer was available. Post-match it was back to my favourite Valencian craft ale bar for one last round of drinks, the more direct walk into the city centre taking about 35 minutes.

Graffiti written on one of the toilet doors in the ground.
If only he would.....