Valencia vs Real Madrid: Three key battles to keep an eye on | OneFootball

Following their return from their Christmas holidays, Real Madrid are set to return to action in La Liga on Friday as they take on Valencia for their match that was previously postponed due to the DANA floodings.

The Merengues will be coming into this game in high spirits, as they won the Intercontinental Cup before going for their winter holidays and also beat Sevilla to climb ahead of Barcelona on the league table. However, they still stand second as Atletico Madrid are the leaders, and thus cannot afford to lose any points in a very tight race.

On the other hand, Valencia have been rather poor this season, and currently stand 19th on the La Liga table, level on points with Real Valladolid. However, they replaced their coach before going into the Christmas break, and thus might look for a resurgence with this match against a rival as competitive as Real Madrid.

Thus, this upcoming match promises to be a highly entertaining one, especially because of the implications it can have for both teams’ league aspirations. In particular, there will be three key battles to watch out for that can turn out to be decisive in this game.

Jude Bellingham vs Pepelu

After a somewhat slow start to the season when Carlo Ancelotti experimented with his position and role on the pitch, Bellingham once again showed the goalscoring form from the last season in the final few weeks of 2024.

The Englishman has now scored 6 goals and provided 4 assists in La Liga this season, and remains an integral part of the Los Blancos’ attack. Even without these numbers, his involvement in the game for Real Madrid remains immense, as he contributes to the defence as well as to the buildup to a very high degree.

However, against Valencia, he might have problems, especially when trying to build up attacks for the Merengues, as he will be facing a highly competent opponent in the midfield, Pepelu. The Spaniard has particularly stood out with ball recoveries this season, and his physicality, power, and technical quality make him a key part of this Valencia team.

Thus, it will be interesting to see which of these two players is able to get the better of the other in this game.

Kylian Mbappe vs Yarek Gasiorowski

Kylian Mbappe has clearly been far from his best level at some points in this first half-season at Real Madrid, but he is still putting up very decent numbers for his new side. Meanwhile, the last few games have shown that he is also now gelling better with his teammates, and is playing significantly better than he did earlier in the campaign.

The Frenchman has already scored 10 goals and provided 2 assists in La Liga this season, and he is expected to improve these numbers even better in this second part of the season. He will be looking to showcase this intent in his side’s very first game of the year against Valencia.

However, he will face one of the more promising and talented defenders in La Liga, i.e., Yarek Gasiorowski. The 19-year-old centre-back is one of the best players in Valencia ranks this season and has already been linked with big European sides, including Real Madrid.

With his 3.2 ball recoveries every game and getting dribbled past only 0.3 times every match, he will definitely put up a significant barrier in front of Mbappe. He is also good in the air, and his performance can go a long way in helping Valencia deal with the fearsome Real Madrid attack.

Hugo Duro vs Antonio Rudiger

This is going to be a special match for Hugo Duro as he will be facing his former side Real Madrid. The Spanish forward is a regular starter for Valencia this season, having played 14 games, 13 of them from the very start. In these games, he has scored 4 goals and provided a single assist.

All of these goals have come from inside the box, and thus, his positioning can prove to be a threat for Real Madrid. However, in addition to his goalscoring abilities, he also presses the opposition defenders very high, which can disrupt their buildup from the backline.

Thus, the Merengue veteran Antonio Rudiger will have to be at his best to keep an attacker as dangerous as Duro under control. There is no doubt about the German’s ability to keep dangerous forwards quiet, and he will also be the favourite to come out the winner in this battle. However, he still will not have a walk in the park in this game.