In May 2004, as Rafael Benitez and his Valencia team celebrated a LaLiga and UEFA Cup double, it was truly a bright period in the club's history.
Between 1999 and 2004, Los Che won two league titles and also reached two Champions League finals, losing both to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but it was an impressive achievement to be there in the first place, before beating Marseille 2-0 in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup final in Gothenburg.
It was not exactly all downhill from there either.
Granted, no further league titles have been forthcoming in the almost 19 years since, but in an era where the imposing pair of Barcelona and Real Madrid have only grown further, while Atletico Madrid became another formidable foe, that Valencia have had eight top-four finishes in that time is still impressive.
Two Copa del Rey wins in that time, including one as recently as 2018-19, have kept them in the conversation and from an outsider's perspective, it would have been reasonable to assume that one day, they would be back to threaten the big boys.
However, in recent seasons it has been harder and harder to imagine that scenario, with the club feeling like it was spinning its wheels, and this campaign could be one that some have seen coming for a long time.
A ninth-place finish last season looked better than it was, finishing closer to the relegation spots than the top seven in terms of points.
Valencia hosted Celta Vigo in the final game of the 2021-22 campaign, and secured a 2-0 win, but it was just their sixth victory at the Mestalla all season.
Prior to the game, an estimated 10,000 fans marched to the Avenida de Suecia outside the stadium in protest at owner Peter Lim and then president Anil Murthy.
The club sacked Murthy last May after audio was leaked of him threatening star midfielder Carlos Soler with bad press if he tried to leave at the end of the season. Soler ultimately sealed a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
As for Lim, he took over the ownership of Valencia in 2014, and fans have been largely unhappy with his leadership ever since.
The Singaporean former stockbroker had at least eased the debt the club had when he arrived, but the approach since then has been more about balancing the books and maintaining their LaLiga status rather than showing ambition to return them to their previous lofty position.
Since the 1987-88 season, Valencia have only had four bottom-half finishes in Spain's top-flight, with three of those coming since Lim's arrival almost nine years ago (11th in 2015-16, 12th in 2016-17 and 13th in 2020-21).
Two seasons ago, the 13th-placed finish was Valencia's joint third worst ever LaLiga season (also 13th in 1987-88), only finishing lower in 1982-83 (15th) and 1985-86 (16th).
Selling the likes of Soler, Ferran Torres and Goncalo Guedes in recent years without adequately replacing them has not helped, either with the performances of the team or the relationship with the fans.
And now, even that LaLiga status is in serious question.
Speaking to Stats Perform, former Valencia left-back and director of football Amedeo Carboni understands the fans' frustrations, believing a disconnect between the powers that be and the supporters has not helped.
"Valencia are not going well, you can see that in the table," the former Italy international said. "And it's been for some years, maybe not that low, but it has been now four or five years in which the club is not investing in the team, not investing enough money, so if the squad is not competitive, it's hard being high in the table.
"A lot of teams buy reinforcements, and if they don't start well in the winter market they always find something to help them. You just need to look at Sevilla, who were recently where Valencia are, and now they have risen a bit.
"Regrettably, it had started well [under Lim], then there were some changes that the people, the fans, didn’t understand, changing managers after a good season, managers that had won the Copa del Rey, or qualified for the Champions League.
"To tell the truth, we are outside and don't know what is happening in there, we can only judge what happens. The team is not going well and the people are not happy. There's no signings to [make them] dream.
"[A disconnect] is one part of it, because the fans don't play, the fans don't sign anyone. But having them against you is not a good thing. And this, regrettably, has worsened over time.
"There was a lot between the former president, Murthy and the fans... I think there was a lack of respect towards the club and the fans. They are Mediterranean fans, so hot fans, they like to be involved not only on Sunday, but every day throughout the year.
"If you think about the owner, how many years has he been in Valencia?... I think he has been [to a game] how many times? Five? Seven? No more. That tells a lot."
It seems crazy to think a team that has boasted stars like Santiago Canizares, Gaizka Mendieta, Claudio Lopez, Pablo Aimar, Roberto Ayala, David Villa and David Silva could be playing second tier football next season.
Valencia sit in the relegation zone after 23 games, having won just two of their last 15 league outings (D4 L9).
Gennaro Gattuso was appointed head coach ahead of the campaign but only lasted until late January as the team struggled for consistency under the Italian.
They are far from adrift though, sitting just a point behind Real Valladolid in 17th and just four behind Espanyol in 12th, while last Saturday saw them record a rare win against Real Sociedad in Ruben Baraja's first home game since replacing Gattuso as head coach.
The appointment of Baraja with Carlos Marchena as his assistant almost feels emblematic of the journey for Valencia over the last two decades.
Both were a part of the two title winning teams in 2002 and 2004, but simply appointing people who were there in the good times could seem like a token gesture to appease fans rather than a tactical masterstroke.
Carboni – who also played for the club during that successful period – believes having two figures like his former team-mates in charge could help to focus minds though in what will be a tough period for Los Che.
"Now, you need to be effective," he said. "If you play well, you have a better chance of winning, but when you are in a situation like Valencia, the result is fundamental. You only need to focus on the points. It doesn't matter if you draw or you win on the 95th minute, it is exactly the same. This is the situation Valencia is in.
"Probably [having] two ex-players who have lived it and know what the players are thinking in these moments, they will know how to speak to them, because in these kind of situations, the psychological factor is much bigger than the physical, so if you can recover the focus, the physical side will come as a consequence."
He also understands the desire of Baraja and Marchena to return despite the difficult circumstances, adding: "You always have that dream, knowing that Valencia is an historical team of LaLiga, when you have played there and become a coach, it is normal to want to come back to your club that brought you so much happiness."
Valencia travel to Barcelona on Sunday, a fixture once highly-anticipated as a battle between two of the top teams in Spain.
This time, the visitors will arrive more in hope than expectation, and if they are unable to get their act together in the remaining 15 games, it may not even be a fixture next season.
New England Revolution v CF Montreal: Courtois targets strong mental approach
CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois has urged his players to prioritise their mental approach when they travel to New England Revolution on Wednesday.
Montreal snapped a four-match winless streak in MLS at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC, but they have registered back-to-back victories in the league since March.
They sit 12th in the Eastern Conference but still have an outside chance of making the playoffs if they can string together a run of positive results.
Courtois did not get over-excited by the win over Charlotte and is already looking at how to improve to get another three points on the board.
"I am happy, we are talking about things that are positive, but for me, there are always both [no matter the result]," Courtois said.
"It comes down to the mental approach. The message got through [against Charlotte], but if we look at the details, we could have conceded again, and then we would be talking about something else entirely."
Meanwhile, New England are bottom of the table, three points worse off than their opponents.
They suffered a 3-0 loss to Orlando City last time out and are now winless in three matches, but assistant coach Pablo Moreira is confident they can bounce back.
"All three goals were given up on set pieces, which is a tough one to swallow, and then through the run of play. So, [we'll] just build off of the positives and look forward to the game Wednesday," Moreira said, as quoted in the Blazing Musket.
"It's more that mentality after [conceding] and trying to improve that."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New England Revolution – Aljaz Ivacic
Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Orlando was the 12th time this season New England have lost a regular season match by multiple goals, the most such losses this MLS season.
The 12 multi-goal losses are New England's most in a single season in club history, and Aljaz Ivacic will be desperate to keep a clean sheet.
CF Montreal – Josef Martinez
Josef Martinez has scored eight career regular-season goals against New England, tied for his most against any MLS opponent (D.C. United, Orlando).
No player has scored more goals against the Revs over the last 10 MLS seasons.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN
New England and Montreal have each won three of the last six meetings in the fixture. The Revs scored 13 goals in their three wins while failing to score in the three defeats.
The Revolution are winless in three straight regular-season home matches (D2 L1). It has been four years since they went four straight home league games without a win (D4 L1 from March-September 2020).
However, Montreal are winless in 14 straight away matches in all competitions (D4 L10), including losing their last three away from home. Montreal's only longer road winless run in all competitions since joining MLS in 2011 was a 34-match run in 2013-14.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New England Revolution – 52.5%
Draw – 24.3%
CF Montreal – 23.2%
Jorginho: Arsenal players laughing at Haaland form for Man City
Jorginho has said the form of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is making him and his Arsenal team-mates laugh ahead of next weekend's meeting.
Haaland netted two more goals for City in Saturday's 2-1 comeback win over Brentford at the Etihad Stadium to maintain his side's perfect start.
That took the striker to nine goals across City's first four Premier League games this season - the most any player has scored in the competition's history at this stage.
Arsenal are the next side tasked with attempting to keep Haaland quiet in next weekend's showdown between the division's top-two sides.
Despite Haaland's superb form to begin the campaign, Jorginho insists Arsenal are unfazed heading into Sunday's battle in Manchester.
"Erling scoring again... it is starting to make us laugh," he said. "We look because we watch all the games and we love the Premier League.
"We watch [City] as well, which is normal. It doesn't get to our head. We need to focus on us and that is what we are trying to do."
Last season's runners-up Arsenal are two points behind early pacesetters City after winning three and drawing one of their opening four matches.
Mikel Arteta's men managed to grind out a 1-0 win in their North London derby with Tottenham at the weekend thanks to a Gabriel header.
Arsenal were without key midfield pair Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, owing to suspension and injury respectively, but still got the job done.
"You learn more about each other," said Jorginho, who replaced Rice in midfield. "Everyone wants to improve and wants the best for the team.
"When you put the team in first place I think just good things can happen. Keep believing in what you are doing. I think we are on the right way."
Arsenal travel to Atalanta for their opening Champions League game on Thursday, but one eye is undoubtedly on the trip to City three days later.
"If you want to achieve big things you need to have the mentality of trying to win every single game," Jorginho said.
"That is what we need to do and that is what we want to do. That is what we are trying to do. You need to keep in this way.
"Keep believing in what you're doing. We are believing in what we are doing and we keep working hard to improve on what we need to improve."
Minnesota United v FC Cincinnati: Consistency the key for playoffs, says Noonan
FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan is striving for consistency from his players after confirming their place in the MLS playoffs.
Noonan’s side were held to a goalless draw against Leagues Cup champions Columbus Crew but have now gone two home games without a victory or scoring a goal.
While securing their spot in the playoffs was something Orange and Blue could have only dreamed of a few years ago, Noonan’s future ambitions for his team overshadowed any celebrations.
“It's hard to do, and we strive for consistency, and consistency for our group and our expectations is to be a playoff team and then be a top seed and be playing games at home in the playoffs,” Pat Noonan said.
“I think we go into this next game as healthy and with as many options as we have had. The goal for us needs to be to maintain that over this final stretch so that we can have consistency with our selection and with our starting 11.
“But I think if we want to have a strong end to the season and have a strong playoff run, it needs to be with players available in depth and competition in our squad. Certainly, that'll be important.”
Minnesota, meanwhile, did their chances of reaching the playoffs the world of good with an impressive 3-1 victory over in-form St. Louis City in their last MLS fixture.
The Loons overcame Cedric Teuchert’s third minute opener to remain ninth in the Western Conference table, bridging the gap between themselves and FC Dallas one place below them.
Head coach Eric Ramsay lauded his side’s display in breaking down St. Louis’ resolute defence, and detailed how his players plan to attack the final games of the season to remain in the playoff picture.
“We want to be a team that can shift between a number of shapes according to the situations we anticipate coming, according to the players that we’ve got in form and available,” Ramsay said.
“We want to be, ultimately, an aggressive team, we want to be a team that can press, can have more of the ball, can steal the ball higher up [the field].
“When you are playing in a back five, that isn’t as easy as it looks sometimes on paper.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Minnesota United – Bongokuhle Hlongwane
Hlongwane’s goal against St. Louis last time out was his 10th goal of the season for Minnesota.
In doing so, he became the fifth different Loons player to record a double-digit scoring season and the third in the last three years.
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Having struggled in front of goal in their recent MLS fixtures, top scorer and captain Acosta will be key for Cincinnati at Allianz Field.
But the Argentine comes up against a side he has struggled against in his MLS career, with Minnesota one of only seven teams he is yet to score past.
MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN
Cincinnati won their last match against the Loons in May. But Minnesota were unbeaten in the first four meetings between the sides (W3 D1), outscoring Cincinnati, 10-1, in those games.
However, Cincinnati have now lost consecutive regular season away matches after losing only one of their previous 16 on the road in league play (W12 D3). This is Cincinnati’s first set of back-to-back regular season away losses since the start of the 2022 campaign.
But the Loons have struggled at Allianz Field, losing four of their last five regular-season home matches. Prior to this run, they had lost just four of their previous 27 games on home soil dating back to April 2023.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Minnesota United – 31.9%
Draw – 25.4%
FC Cincinnati – 42.7%
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