Author: Prabhu Silvam

Remember when we beat Barcelona and smashed Ajax? Oh, those were magical nights, filled with passion and desire. Those days are gone.

On a nerve-wracking evening at the Mestalla, Valencia dug deep to eke out a first win in five games, a performance powered by high-pressing football and creative flair in the final third.

Welcome to the Mestalla, Goncalo Guedes. We’ve been expecting you. On a humid Sunday evening on home soil, Valencia’s 40 million dollar record signing produced a scintillating attacking performance to give Los Che their first win in 11 matches, reigniting their hopes of a top four finish in the process.

Well, that escalated quickly. A goal up on 89 minutes: 1-1 at the final whistle. On a stifling, slightly wild night at the Mestalla, Valencia failed to capitalise against a 10-man opposition — a lack of conviction and killer instinct permeating through a poor performance.

Maybe, just maybe, Valencia might not be heading for a painful and very forgettable end-of-season run after all.

Jekyll and Hyde. Batman and the Joker. Heads and Tails. If there has been one recurring theme of Valencia this season it is how they can both be brilliant and despairing at the same time. Albert Celades’s team has been one of wildly undulating fortunes — capable of beating Barcelona 2-0 on home soil one weekend and then crashing out of the Copa Del Rey by losing 1-2 to 10th place Granada on another.

Valencia’s shortest trip to an away fixture in the Spanish top flight also turned out to be one of their most unforgettable yet. With a must-win Champions League qualification tie against Ajax on Wednesday and a visit by Real Madrid on Saturday, a win was needed against Levante to build a seven-day momentum.

Deep into stoppage time, Jose Gaya looks up and swings a sublime cross from the left directly onto the path of Rodrigo. Faced with an open goal, the forward should have tucked it in neatly from six yards out.