Valencia vs Real Madrid: times, how to watch on TV, stream online | LaLiga

Valencia welcome Real Madrid to Mestalla with their survival prospects much improved, but Rubén Baraja’s men are still not quite out of the woods yet. A late goal from reserve team player Alberto Mari, making just his second appearance for the senior side, handed Valencia a vital 1-2 win against Celta in Vigo last weekend.

That result enabled the team to move away from the relegation zone and up to 14th. But Valencia are still not safe and the team is only three points clear of the drop zone and will probably need at least a couple of wins from their last four league games (Real Madrid, Mallorca, Espanyol and Betis) to guarantee their presence in the top flight next season.

At the other end of the table, Ancelotti’s Madrid have much less at stake but will still be keen to get a result from their penultimate away trip of the campaign. With the league out of reach but Champions League football already guaranteed for next term, the only objective Los Blancos have on the domestic front is making sure they lock down second place in the table behind Barcelona.

When does Valencia vs Real Madrid kick off?

The LaLiga Week 35 game between Valencia and Real Madrid will be played at Mestalla on Sunday May 21, 2023, kicking off at the local time of 18:30 hours (CEST). For viewers in the United States, kick-off time is:

How to watch Valencia vs Real Madrid

Valencia vs Real Madrid preview

Valencia

Sunday’s hosts have had three different coaches since the campaign started with former midfielder Rubén Baraja stepping in back in February to see the team through the final weeks of the season. It’s hard to pinpoint what the actual source of their problems is - the team started the season brightly enough but have not shown any kind of consistency. The facts are as clear as day - the Ché have only managed to string back-to-back victories together once all season...

They’ve also struggled to respond after going behind and are among the lowest scoring teams in LaLiga, which hasn’t helped. Defensively, they have looked vulnerable but they are by no means the worst at the back among the clubs in the bottom half of the table - practically all of the 17 games they have lost by a solitary goal. That holds true for nearly all of the clashes they’ve had with the top three teams - apart from a 3-0 defeat to Atlético in March and losing 2-0 at the Bernabéu, their games have been close.

Baraja has been calling on emerging players from the youth teams: Javi Guerra (20), Diego López (21) and Alberto Mari (21) to lead the charge while veterans such as Edinson Cavani have struggled in front of goal. The Uruguayan has contributed just five goals, two of them from the spot.

As always, it’s inevitable that three teams will be spending next season in the second tier but it would be tragic if one of them was Valencia, one of the classic Spanish clubs, whose were last relegated in 1986 but were back in the top flight after just one season and have been in the elite ever since.

Real Madrid

Whatever happens at Mestalla on Sunday, it won’t take anything away from what has been a prosperous season for Ancelotti’s team, who started the season with the possibility of winning six trophies and have bagged three. It has been a long and tiring campaign for many of the coach’s first team players, many of whom also had a World Cup in the middle of it.

The sit second on 71 points and could still end on 80 - perhaps not enough to win LaLiga this time but only six or seven points less than the champions needed to win the last four editions of LaLiga.

Valencia vs Real Madrid: prediction

Baraja’s team are on an upward trajectory and with the wind in their sails after beating Celta last week. The Mestalla will be like a cauldron on Sunday, a volatile atmosphere awaits Madrid that’s for sure. But they are well used to that now, and won two of their last five visits (the locals won both meetings in 2020, the other ended 1-1). Valencia need at least a point from this to be able to see out the last three games with the pressure off. But their lack of firepower up front isn’t going to help them against a side like Madrid - who incidentally have had their own struggles finding the net at times this season.

Prediction: Valencia 1-1 Real Madrid