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Who: Valencia vs Real Madrid
What: La Liga
Where: Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, Spain
When: Saturday, November 7, at 9pm (20:00 GMT).
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from 17:00 GMT ahead of our live text commentary stream
Jose Mourinho’s Madrid visit Valencia knowing that a win will provisionally draw them level with league leaders Barcelona.
Madrid have had some wobbles so far this season, but have won their last seven games in all competitions – including four in the league and an El Clasico win over Barca since a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in September.
Mourinho’s side are currently third in the La Liga table, three points behind the leaders Barcelona, with the Catalan side set to play second placed Atletico on Sunday.
Valencia will be hoping to inject some life into their season as they go into the weekend second bottom of the table, having taken just nine points from 11 games.
Madrid’s coach lavished praise on Jude Bellingham after the midfielder scored a brilliant back-heeled goal against AEK Athens in the Champions League on Wednesday.
On a night when Bellingham became the youngest player to make 60 appearances in European club football’s top competition, the England midfielder scored and was named player of the match as Madrid rallied to a 3-2 win.
“He is a unique player. Today, there is no midfielder in world football like Jude, who is complete on all levels,” Mourinho said.
“I don’t have many words because, for me, he is an absolutely extraordinary player. Even on a day when he doesn’t have a great match, one of those jaw-dropping performances, he still brings work, leadership, ambition, quality, and goal-scoring ability. He is an extraordinary player.”
Bellingham, who was also the youngest player to make 50 appearances, reached his latest landmark at the age of 23 years, 128 days, overtaking iconic former Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
He struck in the 32nd minute by connecting with Marc Cucurella’s cross and flicking a first-time shot past goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli.
“It was just instinct really,” he said. “I found myself in a good position and managed to do the only thing that came naturally in that position. It was a nice one.”
Coach Javier Aguirre said his Valencia side needed the win over Elche last weekend, which came courtesy of a second half goal by substitute Nigerian striker Sadik.
“It’s a very important win for us, because we’d come off three matches without a victory, and now we have Real Madrid CF coming up. We couldn’t afford to get cut adrift,” he said.
“Getafe CF and RCD Espanyol both won, so if we hadn’t done likewise, a rather large gap would have opened up.”
“It’s a very significant win, both in terms of the result and the performance.”
Mourinho, Real Madrid: “This match is one of the toughest matches in the entire Spanish league. Valencia’s coach is extremely difficult, he has great experience, he knows what he wants, and he has a clear philosophy in working with teams, so it will be a very difficult match.”
Aguirre, Valencia: “You don’t need extra motivation for that game. We’ll be playing against one of the best sides in the world, and I hope that we have a good game.”
The Opta supercomputer has made Real Madrid the clear favourites, with a win probability of 70.4 percent. Valencia were given a 12.7 percent chance of winning, while a draw was estimated at a 16.9 percent likelihood.
Last five encounters:
Real Madrid won 2-0 at Valencia in February as second-half goals by Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe settled a largely uneventful contest.
Real dominated possession but found chances hard to come by, with Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski rarely called into action as the visitors struggled to turn control into threat.
It took them until the 65th minute to break the deadlock through Carreras before Mbappe wrapped up the points in stoppage time.
Sergi Canos, Diego Lopez and David Otorbi will all be unavailable due to injuries, while Jose Manuel Copete is a doubt as he continues to struggle with a knee issue.
Loanee Harvey Elliott returns from suspension, and striker Sadiq looks to have regained full fitness after a hamstring injury and is likely to start.
Predicted starting XI:
Dimitrievski (goalkeeper); Martinez, Tarrega, Pepelu, Gaya; Rodriguez; Maffeo, Mayol, Guerra, Rioja; Sadiq
Rodrygo, Raul Asencio, and Ferland Mendy remain unavailable due to injuries, while Vinicius Junior will miss out as he serves the final game of a domestic suspension.
Predicted starting XI:
Courtois (goalkeeper); Valverde, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Tchouameni, Bernardo; Guler, Bellingham, Diomande; Mbappe
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