Real Madrid vs Valencia Preview

Real Madrid will look to rekindle their quest for the 2022/23 La Liga title this Thursday when they welcome Valencia to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The La Liga holders hit a snag on their road to the title defence last time out as they were held to a goalless draw with Real Sociedad. However, manager Carlo Ancelotti described the performance as one of his side’s “best performances of the season” as they finally kept a clean sheet at home in the league.

But failing to score for the first time at any venue this league season left them five points behind fierce rivals Barcelona at the top of the standings after 18 games.

With just half of the games played, Real Madrid will fancy their chances of catching Barcelona in the race for the title. But Los Blancos will know that they cannot afford any further slip-ups as that will effectively seal their fate.

Ahead of this game, the hosts remain unbeaten in La Liga home games since March 2022 (W8, D4). That factor and the fact that they have not lost a home H2H since March 2008 (W11, D5) will give them the much-needed confidence ahead of this game.

Valencia’s own woes will also boost Madrid’s morale ahead of this game. The visitors are in a poor run of form and recently sacked their manager Gennaro Gattuso.

The former  Napoli coach has led the visitors to just five wins in 18 games this term (D5, L8), with Valencia also failing to win any of their last four league games.

Their last outing was a 1-0 loss against Real Valladolid; a result which pushed them down to 14th place in the league table. That means they enter this matchday just one point above the relegation zone.

Given that they are also in the hunt for their first La Liga away win since early October (D2, L2), it will be hard to predict anything more than a loss here. But interim boss Voro Gonzalez – who has been Valencia’s caretaker for several previous stints over the last 15 years – will be desperate to prove people wrong and get a rare win over a Madrid side that are also struggling.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table