Ruben Baraja sacked with Valencia second-bottom at Christmas | OneFootball

Valencia have announced the end of the Ruben Baraja era as manager, thanking him for his passion, commitment and dedication.

‘Pipo’ spent time at the club as a player, and was part of their title-winning team in the early 2000s. He returned in early 2023 to save the club from relegation in extremis, inspiring Los Che after the exit of Gennaro Gattuso, and doing so by blooding a number of impressive youngsters. The likes of Javi Guerra, Diego Lopez and Cristhian Mosquera are all key parts of the first team now.

Baraja kept Valencia up again last season, although they were in the battle until the last day of the season. This year, their defensive solidity has deserted them though, and they sit 19th in the table, level on 12 points with Real Valladolid who are bottom. Although they do have a game in hand, Baraja’s side are four points from safety, and despite salvaging a draw from Alaves on Saturday, are on a run of two wins in 11 games.

Former manager Quique Sanchez Flores has been linked with a return to Mestalla, but until now, there had been no agreement on a deal. It is also not clear whether Baraja and Valencia reached a mutual agreement on his redundancy package, but he was due €5m for his sacking, according to local reports. Their game in hand is next, with Real Madrid visiting Valencia.