Getafe – Valencia | Mayoral bitter the premiere of the new Valencia coach

Baraja could not have had a more complicated debut. To begin with, a high-voltage duel, against a direct rival for relegation and in an uncomfortable setting like the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. A litmus test for a man who knows the ‘ché’ house very well and with the desire to print much more character to a team that was head down after four consecutive defeats.

With the forced casualties of Samu Castillejo (penalty) and Edinson Cavani (injury), Baraja opted for Hugo Duro and Justin Kluivert to occupy the attack zone. The rest of his first eleven remained practically intact compared to Voro’s last meeting. Only Gabriel Paulista, in the center of defense, appeared as a novelty to give more hierarchy to the rear.

As almost always this course, The one who caused the most problems for a Valencia rival was Samuel Lino. The Brazilian, during the first half hour, became Getafe’s nightmare, which despite having a correct start in the first five minutes, lived cornered on his plot of the pitch for a long time.

Without ideas, with Mauro Arambarri and Gonzalo Villar outmatched in midfield by the greater intensity of Valencia, Quique Sánchez Flores’s team survived thanks to David Soria’s interventions. Salvador last day after stopping a penalty from Raúl de Tomas, the Getafe goalkeeper emerged as the savior of the Azulón team in the initial act.

First, after taking an impossible hand from Lino, who finished off a move very well put together by Dimitri Foulquier and Justin Kluivert; after, with another good hand to another shot by Lino from outside the area; and, after half an hour, he did not have to act because the Brazilian, in a one-on-one, threw the ball over the goal.

Those were the moments of Valencia. He wasted them and then had to endure the attacks from Getafe, who touched his pride, and to the rhythm of Munir El Haddadi, remove the rope from his neck and turn the tables in the last quarter. The Moroccan, the most electric of his team, was one step away from overtaking his teammates.

On this occasion, Giorgi Mamardashvili appeared to take out a header from Munir, who also found himself with the body of Mouctar Diakhaby in a very clear shot from inside the area. Munir’s party was joined by Domingos Duarte, who also enjoyed two head butts from a corner that were about to change the course of the duel.

The break came with the appearance of Nemanja Maksimovic on the pitch. Gonzalo Villar, unfortunate, left his place for the Serbian, unprecedented since he returned from the World Cup in Qatar. Quique considered that he was more aware of other matters such as going out in the winter market and decided to leave the Serbian without minutes.

With the Balkan player on the pitch, Getafe gained a little more consistency, although they found themselves with a scare as soon as they started that Soria once again solved with another intervention, this time against Kluivert. Djené answered with a volleyball that went to the clouds and the clash entered into a dynamic in which an electric game prevailed on both sides without clear approaches.

Then, again in a set piece, a clear deficit for Valencia, Getafe hit the target. Mauro Arambarri, at minute 82, took a corner that he headed inside the Portu area. Later, Alderete extended the ball from the baseline and almost inside the goal Mayoral scored his fifth goal of the course to forget the penalty he missed last day and that he should not have taken.

That goal was gold for Getafe, who won their first game in 2023 and deepened the wound of a direct rival who has already chained five defeats in a row. Baraja has a lot of work ahead of him to get out of a very complicated situation. At the very least, his Valencia showed green shoots that weren’t enough. Opposite, Quique, committed, held on tight to the position thanks to the appearance of Mayoral and the great meeting in Soria.