Valencia vs Girona

Estadio de Mestalla is the venue as long-term La Liga tenants Valencia take on newly-promoted Girona in their 2022/23 league opener.

After a disappointing 9th-place finish last La Liga season, Valencia decided to part with former manager Jose Bordalas and appoint Gennaro Gattuso as their new chief of staff. The summer arrivals of Samu Castillejo, Samuel Lino, and Nico Gonzalez are intended to help ‘Los Che’ secure a European finish for the first time since 2018/19. Girona’s visit to Mestalla on the opening weekend sparks enthusiasm amongst the home support, with Valencia picking up three wins from their last four La Liga H2Hs (L1). Yet, each of those triumphs yielded a single-goal margin, suggesting the hosts may have to work their socks off to start a third successive top-flight campaign with a victory. However, they have only won one of their last nine La Liga outings (D5, L3), explaining the club’s decision to hire Gattuso.

In the meantime, after a three-year hiatus, Girona are back in La Liga, courtesy of last season’s 3-1 aggregate triumph over Tenerife in the La Liga 2 playoff finals. The last time they earned a promotion to Spain’s top flight, Girona lasted for two years, and a proactive transfer window suggests they are aiming to replicate that feat. Back-to-back MLS top goalscorer Taty Castellanos has joined the club alongside Manchester City loanees Yangel Herrera and Yan Couto. They should all make Michel’s starting XI as ‘Los Blanquivermells’ hope to arrest an underwhelming five-match losing away streak in La Liga. In order to achieve that, Girona will have to defy their abysmal all-time record against Valencia across all competitions (W1, D1, L4).