The Valencian will conduct his first training session on Sunday, with the mission of securing points in the last two matches of the first phase.
Before the rapid dismissal of Rubén Baraja as head coach of Valencia CF and the subsequent signing, which included a release clause payment to West Brom, of Carlos Corberán as his replacement, first-team players had to return to training on December 29 after a Christmas break. If nothing has changed, this return date will be maintained, which means that it will be the day when the Valencia players meet their new coach. Corberán is responsible for the dramatic transformation of Valencia’s current situation and their direction towards survival in La Liga, a prospect which now seems more precarious than ever in recent years.
The new Valencia project cannot afford to waste time. The match postponed due to poor weather conditions against Real Madrid on January 3 means that the Black and Whites have less rest than the other La Liga teams, who will not play again until matchday 19, starting on January 10. Therefore, it seems unthinkable that the club would delay the return to training due to the change of coach. Now that everything is signed and the professionals making up Corberán’s technical staff are known, Sunday will mark the day when the ‘new Valencia’ begins its journey.
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Additionally, Corberán’s success as Valencia coach this season hangs in the balance in his first two games in charge. The league standings are dire, requiring an immediate response if the team is to avoid precedents which, in most cases, have ended in relegation to the Segunda División.
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Worrying figures
With two matches remaining to complete the first phase (19 matches), against Real Madrid at the Mestalla and Sevilla at the Pizjuán, Valencia have accumulated just 12 points, placing them penultimate in the standings. Historically, only one team in La Liga since 1995 has managed to avoid relegation after accumulating just 12 points from their first 19 league games. That team was Zaragoza in the 2011/12 season, who, despite finishing the first phase with two wins, six draws, and 11 defeats, finished this season with 12 wins and 43 points, enough to ensure their survival. This remains the only precedent for survival with so few points after 19 games. Valencia CF currently find themselves at this precarious limit, needing to secure points against Madrid or Sevilla, or both, to avoid finding themselves in a position in the table that is practically synonymous with relegation.
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Some miracles
Although none surpasses the mentioned feat of Real Zaragoza, there are very few other cases of teams who, without having 12 points, managed to avoid relegation with 13 or 14 points in the first half of the season. In the 1995/96 season, Valladolid achieved this, although the fact that La Liga then had 22 teams, meaning 42 matches were played, allowed more opportunities to earn points. In 2000/01, with 20 teams, **Real Sociedad** achieved this feat, going from 14 to 43 points in the second half. Likewise, in 2003/04 Espanyol matched this feat, and a season later Mallorca achieved it too, ultimately finishing with 39 points, enough to avoid a fall into the abyss. In the 2008/09 season we witnessed a double opportunity, once again with Mallorca going from 14 to 51 points in their last 19 games, and Osasuna from 13 to 43, both ensuring their survival. In the 2009/10 season, Zaragoza, specialists in such miracles, again went from 14 to 51 points and ensured their survival. In the last decade, only Granada (14/15) and Cádiz (21/22) managed to escape relegation with just 14 points in the first half of the season; however, there was no miracle of survival with 13 points or less. Valencia currently has 12 points and two games remaining. Two finals.
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