Valencia expect no Champions League favour

Valencia coach Ernesto Valverde has said his side must assume they will have to win away to Sevilla on Saturday if they are to secure fourth place and Champions League qualification for next season.
Los Che go into the final day of the Spanish season two points ahead of Real Sociedad, who travel to relegation-threatened Deportivo la Coruna.

With Real boasting a superior head-to-head record in their meetings with Valencia this season, the San Sebastian club will qualify for the Champions League if the two teams finish level on points. That means a draw for Valencia will not suffice if La Real win at the Riazor. And Valverde believes his side will have to register a fifth consecutive victory if they are to ensure they are playing amongst Europe’s elite next season.

‘We know that Deportivo are playing for survival, but we have to assume that in a game in which both sides are playing for a lot that Real Sociedad will win,’ he told a press conference on Thursday. ‘We can’t imagine another situation because it would be very dangerous.’

Deportivo coach Fernando Vazquez is hoping his players will feed off the atmosphere at the Riazor rather.  ‘The players need to think that we have an extraordinary match in a super atmosphere,’ he said on Thursday. ‘We need to treat this as a positive target, I don’t want to think about what happens if we fail. Should Depor fail to win, the door would be open for their Galician rivals Celta Vigo, Real Zaragoza or Mallorca to save themselves.