Valencia faces a crucial test at Mestalla this Saturday, when Athletic Bilbao arrives looking to continue its winning streak at home. The Valencians, who have suffered three consecutive defeats at home, seek to break the negative pattern before the number of four defeats in a row becomes a new historical record. The team has lost against Betis by 0-1, against Barcelona by 0-5 and, more recently, against Real Sociedad by 2-3, leaving the fans with a season without wins in their own stadium.
From a technical point of view, the situation is even more complicated. The first two games were coached by Carlos Corberán, while the last defeat occurred under the supervision of Óscar Sánchez, who normally manages the reserve team. Now, Mexican coach Javier Aguirre, who made his debut last season in Santander, must face his first game as coach of the first team at home. Aguirre's main objective is to prevent Valencia from registering a fourth consecutive defeat at Mestalla and, at the same time, stop the trend of losing at home that has marked its recent history.
To put the seriousness of the situation into perspective, the club must go back to March 2016, when they also suffered three defeats in the final phase of the campaign. In total, Valencia has experienced three consecutive home defeats on five occasions, in the 2007-2008, 2002-2003, 1985-86, 1973-74 and 2015-2016 seasons. The only time the team recorded four consecutive defeats at home was between two campaigns: the 2015-2016 season, with losses against Villarreal and Real Sociedad, and the 2016-2017 season, with losses against Las Palmas and Betis.
Athletic, for its part, arrives with the confidence of having won its last games at Mestalla, which adds pressure to Valencia. If the home team does not achieve at least one point, it will not only add to the losing streak, but will also approach one of the worst sequences in its history at home. The match, which will be played on Saturday, will be decisive for Valencia's morale and for Athletic's position in the League table. Meanwhile, fans hope that coach Aguirre manages to reverse the trend and that the team achieves a victory that breaks the chain of losses at Mestalla.