THE OPPOSITION
These are difficult times on and off the pitch at the Mestalla as Valencia prepare for the upcoming La Liga season under new Head Coach José Bordalás.
A need to balance the books in recent years have seen Los murciélagos (The Bats) lose many of their top assets such as Dani Parejo, Ferran Torres, Rodrigo, and Geoffrey Kondogbia without much coming the other way. Indeed, it is not since the summer of 2019 that Valencia have paid money for a permanent signing. This summer's additions have either been youngsters or loans in the case of Omar Alderete (Hertha Berlin) and Giorgi Mamardashvili (Dinamo Tbilisi).
Valencia recorded consecutive top four finishes in 2018 and 2019 and beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the 2019 Copa Del Rey. That season they were also Europa League Semi-Finalists and followed that up by reaching the Last 16 of the Champions League the following campaign. However, that was the high water mark of recent years.
A ninth-placed finish in 2019/20 saw them miss out on European qualification all together and only a run of seven points from their final four matches last term stopped them getting involved in a late-season relegation battle. That 13th-place finish spelt the end of former Watford boss Javi Gracia's time in charge.
TEAM NEWS
Pontus Jansson and Christian Norgaard featured last weekend against West Ham United after their return from the European Championships while Frank Onyeka also made his home debut against The Hammers.
THE MANAGER
José "Pepe" Bordalás Jiménez was a striker during his playing day, spending most of his time in the Spanish fourth division. In 1992 he was forced to retire at the age of 28 because of injury.
A year after he stopped playing, he took on his first coaching role at Alicante reserves in 1993.
Since then he has managed no fewer than 14 teams, returning to Alicante three times. He was named Deportivo Alaves manager in 2015 and in his first season won the second division, guiding the club back to La Liga after a ten-year hiatus. Despite this achievement he was sacked at the end of the campaign.
Getafe appointed Boredlas in September 2016 and once again he gained promotion to the top flight. During his first season managing Getafe in La Liga, he led the team to an eighth-placed finish. The following campaign he guided them to fifth, their best-ever top-flight position, only missing out on Champions League qualification on the last day of the 2019 season. At the end of the campaign he won La Liga's best coach award.
The past two seasons have seen Getafe finish ninth and 15th in the Spanish top flight. Joining Valencia, Bordalás becomes their fourth Head Coach in the past 14 months.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
🟡🔴 Robert Jones will take charge at the Brentford Community Stadium
🆚 LaLiga Lowdown’s Paco Polit previews Los murciélagos
THE KIT
We will be wearing our new 2021/22 home shirt tomorrow afternoon.
Priced at £49 for adults and £38 for juniors, this season’s kits are available for purchase online shop.brentfordfc.com. The Bees Store is now open from 9am to 5pm Mondays to Saturdays and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays.
MATCHDAY INFO
It's the official opening ceremony for our new home this evening.
The Bees will complete a lap of appreciation with the Play-Off Trophy before the game, Kurupt FM are back in TW8 with a live performance and a host of Brentford legends are joining us for our pre-match celebration.
Tickets are available from £15 for adults, £10 for seniors and young persons and £5 for juniors.
Buy online