Manchester United host Valencia in the Champions League tonight, hoping to put their domestic woes aside and build upon a winning start to their European campaign.
The Red Devils’ start to the season has been anything but convincing and the visit of Valencia poses another tough question for Jose Mourinho, who already appears to be scrambling for answers.
Los Che come armed with a host of talented midfielders in the form of Geoffrey Kondogbia and Denis Cheryshev, tough defenders such as Ezequiel Garay and, up front, ‘Batsman’ himself Michy Batshuayi, who will be desperate to impress back on English soil.
Man United are unbeaten against Valencia since 1982 but, in their last meeting – at Old Trafford in 2010 – the Spaniards gave the three-time European Champions, whose squad included the likes of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand – as well as Gabriel Obertan, but we’ll keep that one quiet – a real scare, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men scraping a 1-1 draw thanks to an Anderson goal.
But what about the Valencia side that made the trip to Manchester that night? It was a squad packed with international experience and soon-to-be superstars so, here at Squawka, we decided to take a look at the players that pushed United all the way back in 2010 to see how their careers panned out after that game.
Goalkeeper: Vicente Guaita
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Joined: 2000 (Academy)
Left: 2014
Played: 114 games for Valencia
Currently: Crystal Palace
Career path: Valencia, Getafe, Crystal Palace
Vicente Guaita pulled off a number of impressive saves in that 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and continued between the sticks at the Mestalla for another four years, racking up a total of 114 games for Valencia.
The Torrent-born stopper then moved on to Getafe where he was both relegated and promoted, before helping them to an impressive eighth-place finish last season.
His exploits over the last couple of years at Getafe led to Crystal Palace bringing Guaita to Selhurst Park on a free transfer this summer, where he has made two League Cup appearances so far.
Right-back: Miguel Monteiro
(Photo credit JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Joined: 2005
Left: 2012
Played: 218 games for Valencia
Currently: Retired
Career path: Valencia
After joining from Benfica for £6.6m in 2005, Miguel Monteiro became an absolute stalwart with Valencia.
The Portuguese right-back made 218 appearances in seven years for the club, winning the 2008 Copa del Rey and captaining the side on many occasions, including at Old Trafford in 2010.
After a series of injuries, Miguel eventually left Valencia in 2012 and, following a short spell of training to find a new club, announced his retirement.
Left-back: Jeremy Mathieu
(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Joined: 2009
Left: 2014
Played: 182 games for Valencia
Currently: Sporting Lisbon
Career path: Valencia, Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon
Jeremy Mathieu is a real head-scratcher of a footballer, even without his striking resemblance to Tony Hibbert.
Signed by Valencia in 2009, the Frenchman made 182 appearances for the club during his five-year stay and was, if nothing else, unspectacularly reliable.
However, with an apparent wad of cash burning a hole in their pocket, Barcelona decided to shell out around £17.8m for Mathieu’s services, where he went on to make 91 appearances as a squad player over the next three years, picking up two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys and a Champions League winner’s medal in the process.
Mathieu joined Sporting Lisbon at the start of last season and has won a Taca da Liga during his time in Portugal so far.
Centre-back: Ricardo Costa
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Joined: 2010
Left: 2014
Played: 124
Currently: C.D. Tondela
Career path: Valencia, Al-Sailiya, PAOK, Granada, Luzern, C.D. Tondela
Ricardo Costa has represented no fewer than 11 clubs in his career, if you’re counting his days as a youth player, and is the ultimate footballing journeyman.
Despite winning a raft of trophies with Porto early in his career, including 2004 Champions League, Costa’s most successful, personal spell was with Valencia, making 124 appearances in just four seasons.
After leaving Valencia in 2014, Costa has surfaced in far-flung destinations such as Qatar and Greece, then Spain, before returning to Portugal where he currently plays for Primeira Liga side Tondela.
Centre-back: Angel Dealbert
(Photo credit JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Joined: 2009
Left: 2012
Played: 58 games for Valencia
Currently: Retired
Career path: Valencia, Kuban Krasnodar, Baniyas, Lugo, Castellon
Angel Dealbert joined Valencia from local rivals Castellon in 2009 but struggled to really assert himself at the Mestalla.
Dealbert only managed 58 appearances in three years for Valencia, most of which came in his first season, before moving on to Russia with Kuban Krasnodar, where 62 appearances in two years accounted to a much more successful spell.
A 25-game stint at Baniyas in the United Arab Emirates followed his time in Russia before he moved back to Spain with Lugo, then his original club, Castellon, before Dealbert retired at the end of last season.
Right-wing: Pablo Hernandez
(Photo credit JAIME REINA/AFP/GettyImages)
Joined: 2008 (second spell)
Left: 2012
Played: 155 games for Valencia
Currently: Leeds United
Career path: Valencia, Swansea City, Al-Arabi, Al-Nasr (on loan), Rayo Vallecano (on loan), Leeds United
Pablo Hernandez originally came through Valencia’s youth system and, after a one-season spell away with Getafe, he really flourished for Los Che.
An old-fashioned, direct winger, Hernandez scored 24 goals for the club during his 154 appearances before leaving for Swansea City in 2012 for £5.5m.
However, Hernandez struggled with the Swans and, following spells in Qatar and Dubai, as well as back in Spain on loan at Rayo Vallecano, he only really rediscovered the old spark when joining Championship side Leeds United, where he was voted as Player’s Player of the Year for 2017/18.
Left-wing: Jordi Alba
(Photo credit PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Joined: 2007
Left: 2012
Played: 110 games for Valencia
Currently: Barcelona
Career path: Valencia, Barcelona
That’s right, folks. One of Europe’s most consistent and talented left-backs over the past six years began life as a left-winger.
Hitting us on the reverse-Gareth Bale, Jordi Alba joined the Valencia youth setup in 2007 and established himself in the first-team within two years, going on to make 110 appearances across his three full seasons at the Mestalla.
His form for Valencia not only earned him a call-up for the Spanish national team, for whom he now has 66 caps, but also a £12.5m move to Barcelona, where has won 13 major honours to date.
Central midfield: David Albelda
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Joined: 1995
Left: 2013
Played: 465 games for Valencia
Currently: Retired
Career path: Valencia
David Albelda, two loan spells with Villarreal aside, was an ultimate servant to Valencia.
Albelda was an unwavering midfield general that was there in the good times for Valencia – winning two La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey, the 2004 Uefa Cup and reaching two Champions League finals – and the bad as the club occasionally battled at the wrong end of the league table.
He captained the side on numerous occasions and also managed 51 caps for the Spanish national team.
Central midfield: Ever Banega
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Joined: 2009 (second spell)
Left: 2014
Played: 176 games for Valencia
Currently: Sevilla
Career path: Valencia, Newell’s Old Boys, Sevilla, Inter Milan, Sevilla
If Albelda was the brawn in this Valencia midfield, Ever Banega was most certainly the brains.
Blessed with a wonderful passing range, Banega made 176 appearances for Valencia, with a one-year stint at Atletico Madrid in-between and has since been the lynchpin in the midfields of Newell’s Old Boys in his native Argentina, Sevilla, where he has won two Europa League titles, Inter Milan and now is back with Sevilla once again.
Banega’s club exploits have also seen him pick up 65 caps for Argentina to date and he was part of the Albiceleste side that reached the last-16 of this Summer’s World Cup in Russia.
Attacking midfield: Alejandro Dominguez
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Joined: 2009
Left: 2011
Played: 26 games for Valencia
Currently: Free agent
Career path: Valencia, River Plate, Rayo Vallecano, Olympiacos, Rayo Vallecano
Another journeyman in this side, Alejandro Dominguez made Valencia his then-fifth professional club in 2009 after impressing with Rubin Kazan in Russia.
However, it never worked out for the Argentine and, after just 26 appearances in a little under two years, he returned to his homeland with River Plate.
Dominguez once again impressed with the South American giants and has since had much more successful spells with Rayo Vallecano, twice, and Olympiacos, where he won four Greek league titles – he now, however, finds himself without a club at the age of 37.
Striker – Aritz Aduriz
(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Joined: 2010
Left: 2012
Played: 84 games for Valencia
Currently: Athletic Bilbao
Career path: Valencia, Athletic Bilbao
Aritz Aduriz is the ultimate fine wine of football – the older he gets, the more refined he gets in front of goal.
Aduriz was fairly reliable for Valencia, bagging 23 goals in 84 appearances during his two-year stay. However, it was when he returned to Athletic Bilbao in 2012 that he really came to life.
His six full seasons back with the Basque club have seen him bag an astounding 142 goals in 271 appearances and, despite being the most ‘un-Spanish’ forward you could imagine, he now has 13 caps for Spain to his name.
He remains an important player for Bilbao this season – not bad for a 37-year-old.
Substitutes
Isco
(Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
Joined: 2006 (youth)
Left: 2011
Played: 7 games for Valencia
Currently: Real Madrid
Career path: Valencia, Malaga, Real Madrid
Given his immense success with Real Madrid, it is easy to forget that Isco came through at Valencia.
He did indeed, however, and was brought on as a 54th-minute substitute in place of Alejandro Dominguez in this 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Isco left at for Malaga at the end of the season and after making 82 appearances in two seasons for the Boquerones, found himself at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he has now won an incredible four Champions League titles in five years.
Juan Mata
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Joined: 2007
Left: 2011
Played: 174 games for Valencia
Currently: Manchester United
Career path: Valencia, Chelsea, Manchester United
After scoring 46 goals in four seasons at Valencia, winning the Copa del Rey in the process, Juan Mata has gone on to become one of the most renowned playmakers in the Premier League, eventually joining Manchester United.
Mata has won an FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League with the Red Devils, but not before he swept up a Champions League crown, another Europa League and another FA Cup during a two-and-a-half year stay with Chelsea, becoming their Player of the Year in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Mata has also made 41 appearances for the Spanish national team, helping them to win the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championships.
Sofiane Feghouli
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
Joined: 2010
Left: 2016
Played: 202 appearances for Valencia
Currently: Galatasaray
Career path: Valencia, West Ham United, Galatasaray
Sofiane Feghouli was Unai Emery’s final change against Man United in 2011 and rounded off an impressive substitutes bench which also included Roberto Soldado, Cesar Sanchez, Hedwiges Maduro and Tino Costa.
Sofiane Feghouli was a massive success at Valencia, playing 202 games for the club before deciding to try his luck in the Premier League with West Ham United.
However, his big move to the London Stadium didn’t exactly go to plan and Feghouli found himself shipped off to Turkish giants Galatasaray after just one season.
After winning the 2017/18 Turkish Super Lig, Feghouli remains with the Istanbul side.
The post Where are they now? The Valencia side from their 2010 Champions League visit to Old Trafford appeared first on Squawka News.
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