The fixture therefore carries weight at both ends of the table: a title chase on one side, a survival fight on the other.
Real Madrid travel to Mestalla on Saturday evening knowing that a win over Valencia would provisionally draw them level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, according to Al Jazeera's preview. Jose Mourinho's side sit third, three points behind the leaders, with Barcelona due to face second-placed Atletico Madrid on Sunday. The fixture therefore carries weight at both ends of the table: a title chase on one side, a survival fight on the other.
Madrid arrive in strong form. The preview reports that they have won their last seven matches in all competitions, including four in the league and an El Clasico victory over Barcelona, since a 2-1 defeat to Atletico in September. That run has steadied a season the report describes as having had "some wobbles". Much of the recent attention has centred on Jude Bellingham, who scored a back-heeled goal and was named player of the match in Wednesday's 3-2 Champions League win over AEK Athens, a night on which he became the youngest player to make 60 appearances in European club football's top competition, at 23 years and 128 days.
Mourinho was effusive about the England midfielder, telling reporters that there is "no midfielder in world football like Jude" and calling him "complete on all levels". He added that Bellingham brings work, leadership, ambition, quality and goal-scoring ability even on quieter days. The coach was more cautious about the fixture itself, describing it as one of the toughest matches in the entire Spanish league and praising Valencia's Javier Aguirre as an experienced coach with a clear philosophy.
Valencia's position is stark. The report notes they go into the weekend second bottom of the table, having taken just nine points from 11 games. Last weekend's win over Elche, secured by a second-half goal from substitute Sadiq, ended a run of three matches without a victory. Aguirre said the result was very important because Getafe and Espanyol had both won, and defeat would have opened a rather large gap. He added that no extra motivation is needed against "one of the best sides in the world".
Team news shapes both selections. Valencia are without Sergi Canos, Diego Lopez and David Otorbi through injury, with Jose Manuel Copete a doubt over a knee problem; Harvey Elliott returns from suspension and Sadiq appears to have recovered from a hamstring injury. For Madrid, Rodrygo, Raul Asencio and Ferland Mendy remain unavailable, and Vinicius Junior serves the final game of a domestic suspension. The Opta supercomputer makes Madrid clear favourites at 70.4 per cent, with Valencia at 12.7 per cent and a draw at 16.9 per cent. Madrid won 2-0 at Mestalla in February through second-half goals from Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe.
What the preview does not establish is how either side will cope with the absences, or whether Valencia's win over Elche marks a genuine turn or a single respite. The numbers point one way; the Mestalla crowd, and a coach with nothing to lose, may point another.
