VALENCIA CF (Mestalla Stadium)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 32, VALENCIA CF 6-0 SK RAPID WIEN, ATTENDANCE: 28,831

With a couple of days holiday left to take, I booked myself a long weekend in Spain. The plan was to try and get in a game at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium, but the fixture planners were not kind to me once again. So,after landing in Madrid, I took the high speed train from Atocha across to Valencia for a visit to another iconic stadium, the Mestalla.

The Mestalla was inaugurated on 20th of May of 1923 and originally had a capacity of 17,000. During the Spanish Civil War the stadium was used as a concentration camp and storage warehouse. In the 1950s the Mestalla was renovated, resulting in a stadium with a seating capacity of 45,500 spectators. The ground was severely damaged by the floods of 1957, when the River Turia burst it's banks, and was not used again until 1959. The current capacity of the ground is around 55,000.

The club is planning to move to a new ground, but when this will happen is anyone's guess. Construction on a new ground to the north of the city began 2007 (the shell of a ground is there) but is yet to be completed, due to a lack of funding. The new stadium is due to have a capacity of 61,500.

Valencia assistant coach
Phil Neville

The club were founded in 1919 and play in the colours of the Valencian flag, namely red and yellow stripes with a blue trim. The club have won La Liga six times, the most recent title being won in 2004 under the management of Rafa Benitez. They also won the UEFA Cup in that same season.

Valencia Head Coach
Gary Neville

Prior to that the club were runners up in the Champions League in 2000 and 2001 but did win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1980 when they beat Arsenal 5-4 on penalties, the team included the legendary Argentinian striker Mario Kempes.

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville is the current head coach at Valencia, being surprisingly appointed in December 2015. Ex-Everton skipper Phil Neville, who was already working at the club, is one of his assistants. Under their management the club have been on a wretched run of form with one win in 9 La Liga games and also 7-0 hammering at the hands at Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

There was also a defeat to Lyon in the Champions League which saw Valencia drop into the Europa League, which is the reason for my visit tonight. Valencia were drawn against Austrian side Rapid Wien (a famous name in the eyes of Everton supporters) but actually went into the game on the the back of a first league win under Neville against Espanyol.

Wien fans relax in Plaza de la
Virgen before the game

If there was any doubt that the players weren't trying for their coach, then they were certainly dispelled on this evidence. Valencia comprehensively took the Austrians apart and were 5-0 up at the break.

Wien fans inside the Mestalla

Goals from Santi Mina (4 & 25) Dani Parejo (10) Alvaro Negredo (29) and André Gomes (35) have almost certainly won the tie for Valencia. Every time the home team broke they looked like they were going to score.

The entire Rapid defensive unit were dreadful in the first 45 minutes. They tightened up in the second period to avoid a more embarrassing scoreline but Rodrigo added one more goal in the last minute of the game.

After the match I headed back into town (about a 25 minute walk from Mestalla) where I found a superb craft ale bar and was able to sink a few beers into the wee small hours.

Santi Mina prods home  André Gomes' cross
to open the floodgates after just 4 minutes.