Re: La Liga

The Art of War

Valencia stands on the precipice with its future owner soon to be determined and Hans Kristian Lange describes the events that will soon unfold and what it means for the future of the club.

There are many things in the world you can sell. Few of them will offer the same twists and turns as the sale of a football club, something everybody has a relationship to and an opinion about. For several months already, newspapers, radio stations, television channels and other more obscure providers of information have thrived on the uncertain situation at Valencia. We should still at this point always keep our heads cool and our filters in place, not everything you read or hear is true. Most of it will however have a flavour of truth. Media allegiances, politics and truths, half-truths and, yes even lies, the Valencia sea of information is treacherous and has a fair share of sharks.

More than Tsun Tsu’s art of war, this is a story more like Macchiavelli’s ruthless political schemes in “Il Principe” (despite the first being a more catchy title). Everything is rarely what it seems to be. The players are the same as they have been all along, but as the path has appeared in front of them they have adjusted their methods. To be very cynical, the press and the fans are means to achieve a goal, whether those goals are noble or not.

“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception”

For some days now the main attention in the media has been the disagreement between the club at one end and Bankia at the other. A disagreement I find rather irrelevant taking into account that it is, still, Fundación who will decide. Amadeo Salvo is just a president, potentially on borrowed time. His only tool is the fans who support him, and that card has been played already. Can it be played again? Maybe. Will it bring anything good? Hardly.

“He who builds on the people, builds on the mud”.


To summarize the last few weeks since Amadeo Salvo held his famous rally, little has actually been said in the press. The only exception was Aurelio Martinez’ press release stating that the process would change. After that, everything that have been in the press are filtrations, speculations and opinions. Who filtered Fundación’s list of demands to the new phase of the process? A council member? Representing who? The council members are largely from the club, Fundación and several Valencian institutions like the Universities etcetera. Could it have been Salvo? To what end? Martinez? Or could it come from Bankia, in that case why? A different question is why Fundación or Salvo does not publish it themselves if they are as obsessed by transparency as they claim to be?

The same questions can be asked for Bankia’s response. In whose interest was it that this was known? Who stood to benefit? Well if rumours are true there is one potential buyer who has already proven solvency. One buyer that has a better offer than anyone else. One buyer who also promises to invest in the city of Valencia. One buyer who has support by a popular figure among fans. Who would benefit from that? Not Aurelio Martinez who has stated he will not sign the sale of the club. Not Amadeo Salvo who is likely to be replaced as president. Obviously Bankia, but several offers would cover their needs. It is perfectly orchestrated if all the rumours are true.

“Princes and governments are far more dangerous than other elements within society.”

The buyer in question is said to be of Arab origin and based in the United Kingdom. We have all heard the rumours about the favourite for some time now. We also heard the rumour that they came at the hand of a famous figure from Valencia’s past. Today this person had a meeting with Bankia. As Machiavelli he is Italian. He is not called the prince, but Deo – God or Il Capo – The boss. What role Amedeo Carboni will assume, if any, is unknown.

Bankia is just waiting for the final nod. Not from Fundación, Salvo or Martinez, but from Generalitat Valenciana. They stand the most to lose if this deal goes south or if it drags out. They have given Fundación a last chance to cooperate with Bankia. The alternative is what the rumours have said since yesterday; that Aurelio Martinez will leave his post along with several other council members in the Fundación. Their replacements will, as Martinez was, as his predecessors Varona and Piles also were, placed by Generalitat Valenciana. This time it will be someone loyal.

“The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.”

What happens next very much depends on what is happening just now at Valencia’s Fundación. What will be Aurelio Martinez’ course of action?

Re: La Liga

In “The Art of War”, we set the scene for a Fundación Valencia meeting which held the key to Valencia’s future. We were uncertain how the meeting would end and how the further process would play out, however confident how the sale would finally end. It was a 2 and a half hour meeting where the members of Fundación’s council debated what to do next. The rumours of Aurelio Martinez’ desire to step down as president were gaining force. The media were at location, and a lack of sound isolation in the Fundación building enabled them to continuously report how the meeting developed. Even though they could not report the contents, the intense discussions behind the wall evidenced the lack of agreement.

The Fundación very well knew there was only two options; Either they followed Generalitat Valenciana’s encouragement to reach consensus with Bankia, or they would have to leave their posts. In a choice between heroic martyrdom and having a say in the sale process, they had to vote over a draft for compromise between themselves and Bankia. The bank would have seen Fundación and the club’s original proposal as a straight out provocation and revealed in 10 concrete points their disagreements. The compromise would have corrected many of those, the main benefit being that confidentiality would be maintained.

Salvo had, weeks before, played his highest card when he rallied the fans at Mestalla. Now he had lost. He was in offside. Outplayed. Arguing furiously, he tried to convince his fellow council members not to accept the compromise on certain points. They knew what the price would be, and voted for. Aurelio Martinez later held one of his famous one-way press conferences, where he revealed the contents of the compromise which preserved the right to veto that Salvo presented in the original proposal. But there was one change; In stead of a final vote between three parties, it was now between two. One for Bankia, and one for Fundación and the club. In practice, since Fundación owns 70% of the club, that means one vote for Fundación. If we look at it from an even more practical view, it is one vote for Bankia and one for Generalitat Valenciana who happens to control the majority of votes in the Fundación.

So again we are back to the fragile peace sustained by Generalitat Valenciana. Again we are talking about sale of the debt and the shares and not only the debt. The timeline has been re-established and offers will be received until the 24th of February. Bankia president Goirigolzarri confirmed today that Bankia would have wanted a quicker process and also confirmed that Fundación will lead the process, saying that “Bankia does not have to decide the buyer”.Everything point to Generalitat Valenciana agreeing. They have had it with Salvo’s crusade against Bankia. For safety measures they have also positioned themselves in case Fundación needs to be controlled.

Salvo has after the meeting withheld the club’s consent that the Due Diligence report can be shared by Bankia with the potential investors. In this way Salvo has again delayed the process, after accepting the terms proposed despite disputing it for three hours in the Fundación council meeting. What salvo’s game is, one can only wonder.

So has there been any new bids? Well, the club has been contacted by two different interested buyers; a Russian and an Emirati group. The latter has already been known for a while even though it was being portrayed as “new” by some of the newspapers lately. The first, the Russians, supposedly arrived at the hand of Alfonso Rus, one of the local politicians with aspirations of being Valencia president some day. They were told by the club to contact Bankia and go through the correct process.

In addition, there might be surprises.

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Barcelona have released a statement again defending their actions in the transfer of Neymar.

Barca were responding to media reports in Spain on Wednesday regarding allegations of unpaid tax relating to the signing of Neymar, who moved to the Nou Camp from Santos last June.

The statement read: "In light of reports appearing in today's press concerning the transfer process carried out to bring Neymar da Silva Santos Junior to the Club, FC Barcelona would like to state:

"1) The Club's dealings with respect to this operation, and in light of all information available, was at all times in line with the relevant legal legislation

"2) Represented by its lawyers, the Club will appear at the Jutjat Central d'Instruccio number 5 within the next few days in order to defend its interests and rights.

"3) We express our total willingness to collaborate with the Justice authorities in this matter, as we have done since the first moment the issue arose and in any other area in which our presence may be required."

Barca have found themselves embroiled in controversy regarding the finances behind Neymar's move to the Nou Camp.

Last month Sandro Rosell resigned as club president in the wake of Spanish national court judge Pablo Ruz accepting a lawsuit that alleged Rosell misappropriated funds from the transfer of Brazil international

- something the 49-year-old described as "unfair and reckless".

Barca club member Jordi Cases alleged that the amount paid was more than the 57 million euro (£48.6m) fee reported at the time.

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Wiese: Real Madrid wanted to sign me, but I didn’t think Mou would sit Iker

Former Hoffenheim goalkeeper and current free agent, Tim Wiese recently revealed that Real Madrid tried to sign him in 2o12, when Jose Mourinho was still manager, but he never thought that they were trying to bring him in to replace Iker Casillas, which may very well have happened.

In an interview with German sports daily, Sports Bild, Wiese spoke about Real Madrid’s approach and despite turning it down for personal reasons, he realises now that he may have been named the starter over Iker Casillas.

“I had a number of personal reasons to stay in Germany. Now, looking back at the situation in retrospect, I should have gone to Real Madrid for sporting reasons. I never thought that Mourinho would bench Iker Casillas.”

Real Madrid eventually signed former youth product, Diego Lopez, who did replace Casillas between the sticks at Real Madrid, but with the departure of Mourinho to Chelsea over the summer, new manager Carlo Ancelotti has split the two keepers, with Lopez playing in La Liga and Casillas playing the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

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Spanish High Court looks to charge Barcelona with tax evasion from Neymar transfer

The Spanish High Court has announced that they are looking to charge Barcelona with tax evasion relating to the transfer of Neymar from Santos this past summer, with the Public Prosecutor contesting that Barcelona owe €9,100,800 from recorded payments of €10 million in 2011 and €27,920,000 in 2013.

The Prosecutor argues that Barcelona issued false invoices, which in turn, didn’t actually represent the actual transfer fee that was paid and therefore defrauded the government out of the actual tax amount.

Things get complicated even further after High Court judge José Perals argues that Barcelona were required to pay 24.7%, the tax rate for non-Spanish residents (following the abolition of the Beckham tax law) of the €37.1 million transfer fee.

Judge Perals has also added the player’s working contract, the amount required to acquire the rights from Santos, royalties and incentives from the up to nine contracts drawn up in the transactions.

Neymar’s father is also required to provide all documentation relating to the amounts paid to the ‘N&N Company’ which was revealed to have made €40 million in the transfer and the corresponding tax declarations from the beginning of the operation in 2011 until now.

Following the announcements, Barcelona went on the defense and contested that the transfer was legitimate and they have met all tax requirements related to the transaction.

Re: La Liga

Veteran midfielder Xavi has ruled out a move to the Premier League at the end of his career as Barcelona are his club.

Xavi has spent his entire career at the Nou Camp and the 34-year-old recently made his 700th first-team appearance for Barcelona.

He has regularly been linked with a switch to England, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United rumoured to have shown an interest.

The Spain international has acknowledged that there have been times that he would have welcomed the opportunity to play in the Premier League.

However, such is his devotion to Barcelona, that Xavi has conceded that he could never envisage leaving the Spanish champions to play for another club.

"There was always talk United or Chelsea or City and Arsenal wanted to sign me but never anything concrete," Xavi told The Sun.

"My thinking was always clear. I am such a Barcelona fan, so my first, second and third option is always Barca.

"I never thought of leaving like Cesc Fabregas, who went to Arsenal.

"I want to be here forever. If I am not at Barcelona, I will always be thinking of Barca. If I had played for City, United, Arsenal or Chelsea, I'd keep asking what is going on at Barca - my club.

"All the big English clubs know getting Xavi is impossible. They know Xavi is a fan of Barcelona, he won't come.

"I've no regrets at all, but I still think at times that I would have loved to play in England. You 'live' football over there.

"People respect you more. It's more difficult to find respect in Spain. There is more criticism here. In England, a player who's won many things is more respected than in Spain. It's not happened because my dream, my feeling and my idea was to be at Barcelona. Forever."

Re: La Liga

Real Sociedad president, Jokin Aperribay is happy with the work of new manager, Jagoba Arrasate and is hoping to keep the new coach around for the immediate future by offering him a two-year contract extension.

Arrasate came in this summer, with no Primera Division experience and despit failing in the Champions League, has managed to maintain the team’s level of play and keep the squad fighting for a place in next season, which the Basque board feels warrants an improved contract.

The new contract will likely come with incentives, that if achieved, will activate clauses that will further improve the contract with bonuses and consideration of an extended contract beyond the two years.

The club is looking to have the coach’s future decided before the end of the season, so that he may play an active role in the transfers in and out of the club, rather than being a bystander and will look to finalise the deal this coming match.

Re: La Liga

Spanish court charges Barcelona with tax fraud

Spanish High Court Judge Pablo Ruz has launched a charge of tax fraud against FC Barcelona, following consultations with the public prosecutors, over alleged false tax declarations to the tune of €9.1 million.

With a case brought forward by state prosecutors, on behalf of the Spanish Public Finances Office, Spanish Judge Pablo Ruz has announced a charge of tax fraud, launched against FC Barcelona on Thursday, following ongoing investigations into the Neymar transfer.

“Judge Pablo Ruz has charged FC Barcelona with an infringement against the tax authority relating to the purchase of the Brazilian player,” a press release from the court declared.

State prosecutors alleged that there was evidence of “simulation” and falsifying of documentation, pertaining to the transfer, with a case already open against former Barca president Sandro Rosell, who stepped down from his post amidst personal and family pressures, along with the opening of the legal proceedings.

Following consideration, Judge Pablo Ruz stated that there was “sufficient evidence for the investigation of a possible crime” by the Catalan club, against the Spanish tax authorities. He has also requested the full presentation of all documentation and contracts relating to the Neymar transfer, to be presented to the court.

Implicated in the investigations and charges directly, at the request of the court, are Sandro Rosell, current Barca president Josep Mario Bartomeu, financial vice-president Javier Faus and the father of the player, Neymar da Silvia Santos, who have also been instructed to pay a bail bond of €45,000.

Part of the investigation is also focused on the tax status of Neymar, as to whether he is obliged to pay taxes due for 2013, in Spain or Brazil.

Re: La Liga

Xavi: I hope Neymar won’t be affected by what’s happening

Barcelona midfielder, Xavi Hernandez expressed his concern over the club being charged with tax evasion by the Spanish High Court, but even more concern on how it may affect young winger, Neymar, whose transfer from Santos to the Catalan side has set off the series of events leading to the charges and continues to wage a war of words with the Brazilian club.

In a recent interview at Thursday’s presentation of the Hospital de Día Infantíl Sant Joan de Deu project, which will double it’s capacity, Xavi was asked about Neymar’s state of mind amid the charges surrounding the club.

“I hope Neymar won’t be affected by what’s happening. He looked very fresh in Manchester.”

Xavi then felt that the team is “very focused and doing very well after five very good games,” before he discussed the situation of Jaén’s Jona, who was fined €2,000 for lifting up his shirt to display a message supporting the fight against childhood cancer.

“He shouldn’t be punished.”

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Keylor Navas is the first to 100 stops in La Liga this season

Levante goalkeeper, Keylor Navas has been a breakout star this season and the Costa Rican can add another accolade to the growing list, as he has become the first goalkeeper to make 100 stops in La Liga this season.

In twenty La Liga contests this season, Navas has made a total of 102 stops, while allowing just 23 goals, but while these stats are vital for his club’s survival, he is quickly approaching two club records that could make him one of the top goalkeepers in the league.

Navas has gone three La Liga games without conceding a goal and if he keeps a clean sheet tomorrow against Real Valladolid, Navas will have not only broken the record for the most games without conceding a goal (4) and most minutes without conceding a goal.

Navas is trailed by Getafe’s Miguel Angel Moya with 97, Granada’s Roberto with 96 and Real Valladolid’s Diego Mariño with 91 stops.

According to Spanish sports daily, AS, Navas has a clause in his contract that will allow his to leave for only €10 million if he doesn’t play a minimum amount of games, which he is in no danger of, as he has only miss one game this season due to a suspension, meaning a clause in his contract will activate to add another year to his deal.

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Almeria officially present Teerasil Dangda in Thailand

Almeria officially presented their first signing for next season, Thai international forward, Teersail Dangda from Thailand on Thursday, with the 25-year-old set to join the club later this summer.

Earlier this month, Almeria announced the signing of Teerasil, who will join the club on loan from Muangthong United in Thailand for the 2014-15 season, with an option to buy.

Almeria sporting director, Alberto Benito and economic vice president, Jose Bonilla were on hand for the official presentation, which took place in Bangkok.

“It’s a pleasure to join a team like Almeria. I’m excited to fly to Spain and join the team for pre-season training and show what I’m capable of. In the meantime, I’ll learn Spanish and the culture so as to make a quick transition.”

Teerasil has previously been on trial with both Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, but this will be the quick-footed striker’s first official contract with a European club.

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Spain’s Anti-Violence Commission recommends €4000 fine for Villarreal in tear gas incident

Spain’s Anti-Violence Commission has recommended that Villarreal be fined €4000 after a fan threw a tear gas canister onto the pitch during last weekend’s match against Celta Vigo, where the action was temporarily suspended as players were forced to cover their mouths and faces.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Commission recommended the fine of €4000, but adamantly praised Villarreal and their security staff for “their great professionalism” in escorting the more than 13,000 fans out of the stadium within “10 minutes and without incident.”

The Commission went on to praise Villarreal for their actions since the incident occurred, stating that their “collaboration, from the start of the incident, was impeccable, following the orders of the head of security of the police force in order to evacuate the stadium,” stated that Villarreal and others should continue to take security measures to ensure these incidents don’t occur in the future.

“Football clubs they should make use of all measures to control the access of spectators into their stadiums to avoid events like those witnessed at Villarreal happening again at a sporting spectacle.”

Re: La Liga

Lezama considered a reference for worldwide youth development

Athletic Club Bilbao’s youth academy, known as Lezama, is now being viewed as a reference point by UEFA for successful youth development as stated in a press conference on Wednesday.

Football will always have one eye on the future as growth and consistency are vitally important to the continuation of the beautiful game as we known.

With that eye looking ahead, football youth development has become a globally recognized need and something that has begun to receive high recognition from clubs all across the world.

The European Club Association (ECA) has been studying several top club’s youth programs over the past year and recently visited Athletic Club Bilbao’s Lezama on Wednesday, sending two delegates. to gather information on how the facility is run.

Representatives from Ajax, Inter, CSKA Moscow, Stade Rennais and several other clubs also visited Lezama on Wednesday seeking to learn from the Basque club in order to incorporate even more successful procedures for their own youth development.

Following the conference, Lezama has been noted as a “reference point” for other youth programs across the continent with ECA stating that Athletic “is a very special club at work with youth development and that Lezama is a great place to learn, share information, and study how things should be done.”

After receiving the visitors from the ECA, Athletic Club President Josu Urrutia stated, “We are very pleased to be part of ECA, and the fact that ECA believes the Athletic Club Youth Academy is an example in this area honors us.”

There will be a General Assembly in Barcelona in March, during which the ECA will reveal their yearly findings after studying several youth programs.

Re: La Liga

Bartomeu: Barcelona are an exemplary club

Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu recently defended the club against charged of tax evasion by the Spanish High Court and insists that he’d do everything the exact same way, if asked to do the Neymar transfer again.

In an interview with Estudio Estadio Teleporte, Bartomeu defended Barcelona against recent tax evasion charges and spoke about other topics surrounding the club.

“The reaction is the same. We are very secure in what we did. We were well advised and we are calm. We are current on our payments to the tax authorities and we are an exemplary club. When asked, we explained Neymar’s transfer and there is nothing unusual behind it. There are no irregularities. From the player’s family, to Santos, to Barcelona. We were will advised. It doesn’t matter that someone is bringing a lawsuit against Barcelona. We will defend our interests where charged. In the end, this will all be an interesting anecdote. If I had to do it again, I’d do it all exactly the same. Neymar is one of the best players in the world. We are the dominant force in football and with his arrival we have the chance of continuing as such. Along with Messi, we hope Neymar will continue to help us achieve many things. The members of the club demanded explanations and along with Neymar’s family, we presented the transfer details. It didn’t sit right with us to do this but it was the only way to clarify this issue. The club won’t write a written guarantee that we won’t press charges against Cases, but our word is our bond.

“Tension exists because we’re doing so well. It should bother our rivals. We work hard to continue being a dominant force, but I don’t agree when they say there is tension among us. The differences make us stronger.

“Barcelona members express themselves in a different way and that’s something we value. We all want to move forward as one and the team to win. Both Cruyff and Laporta are one everyone’s mind and eventually we can work things out with them.”

Bartomeu then spoke about his first month as president of the club and possible reelections.

“I never thought about being president. In 2003, I joined with the basketball team. What I’ve wanted is to help the president since 2010 and Rosell was a good president. He left under poor terms as you all known. We want to continue as we are until 2016. I’ve been friends with Rosell since university. We meet regularaly. The meetings are private, of course. Now, he’s not providing advice, but in due time I’m sure he will. Sandro knows more about football and business than anyone I know. We’ll negotiate with Nike and who better to sit and negotiate with them. I hope that the resignation will serve to stop all threats against Rosell.

“We will honour the mandate set for 2016. The project is not finished, not for economic or wealth…there are still a lot of things left to do.”

Bartomeu went on to discuss the Copa del Rey final and is happy with the date and location.

“We like the date. If all goes well we’ll still be playing in the Champions League. It will be a working day for the club members but we’ll have a draw for tickets. We’re playing at a high level and we’re confident that we can win more trophies this year.”

Bartomeu concluded by discussing transfers and renewals, while ruling out the chance of keeping Victor Valdes.

“Before the end of the season, we will offer Tata a contract extension, whether he wins anything or not. We are very happy with him.

“Now is not the time to talk about transfers. Valdes will move on and occupy another goal. It hurts us that Victor doesn’t want to continue here. Game after game he’s showing what an incredible goalkeeper he is. With Zubizarreta and Pinto, we must decide is Pinto will continue at Barcelona.

“Messi? We are in heavily involved in competitions. Messi was born here and we’d be pleased if he decided to stay with until he retires. When there’s news on a renewal, we’ll tell you.

“Bartra will sign a new contract in the coming days. He is one of the best centre-backs in Europe and we are very confident in him.”

Re: La Liga

Real Valladolid 1-1 Levante: Friday night points shared at the José Zorilla

A tale of two halves as Levante held the first half advantage with a goal from Casadesús, before Guerra levelled the game in the second half for Real Valladolid, as both sides were forced to settle for a point apiece.

Despite a midfield battle dominating the opening 10 minutes, a recurring tactic of Juan Ignacio Martinez’s was to attack Levante’s left-flank, with Rukavina and Larsson enjoying themselves against Karabelas. They won three corners due to this tactic, but nothing came of the set-pieces.

The first controversial point of the night came in the 15th minute when Levante defender, Juanfran, handled the ball inside the box. Despite a lack of protests, replays showed that Valladolid should have had a penalty.

The first genuine chance of the night came in the 23rd minute when Pena decided to lash a shot at goal from 30 yards out. Keylor Navas was at full stretch as the ball flew marginally wide.

In the 25th minute, Levante found a breakthrough with their first real chance of the game. Ivanschitz’s free-kick near the edge of the box, whipped in to the far post, saw Victor Casadesus rise higher than Mitrovic to open the scoring with an excellent header. The last time Casadesus had scored away from home in the league was in January 2013; his opponents that day were Valladolid, too.

The final 20 minutes of the first-half, after Levante’s goal, saw the away side drop deep and defend with ten players behind the ball. Valladolid looked to combine wing-play with quick, interchanging passes but Vyntra and Karabelas, Levante’s two Greek defenders, shut down every attack which looked to threaten their respective flanks. Juanfran dealt well with dribbles down the middle, especially from Javi Guerra. The Levante captain, once again, a stonewall in defence with one-on-one situations.

The first half signaled the end of a combative, defensive display from Levante who, up until their goal, looked shaky at the back. Valladolid became far too predictable with Rukavina’s runs on the overlap and, therefore, struggled to switch their style up in an attempt to break down Levante’s defence.

The second-half had barely picked up pace when Valladolid equalised. A scramble in the box saw the ball settle at Javi Guerra’s feet; the striker turned and shot, all in one movement, and beat Keylor Navas at the far past. Guerra’s goal was his 12th of the season, and it also ended Levante’s run of three games without conceding a goal. Had Levante not conceded this game, it would have been the first time in their La Liga history that they had kept four consecutive clean-sheets.

The first change of the game came in the 56th minute when Nabil El Zhar replaced Pedro Lopez. JIM opted for a forward with far superior hold-up play as Levante looked to control the game in the final third, despite Valladolid dominance throughout.

The opening 20 minutes remained drab and the only action worth noting was Levante’s second change of the game: Ruben Garcia replaced Ivanschitz – creator of Levante’s goal and top assist maker at the club, this season.

A stop-start game began to annoy Valladolid and Levante fans. The game could hardly last a minute without Estrada Fernandez (referee) blowing his whistle which, ultimately, led to the game’s drab feel.

JIM finally made his move, with substitutions, as he replaced both Larsson and Rubio with Victor Perez and Omar in the 72nd minute.

The second half, due to its aforementioned stop-start nature, was dominated by substitutions. Both managers made their final changes in the 83rd minute. JIM opted for a straight-swap in the centre-forward position as Osorio made way for Manucho. Caparros, on the other hand, brought new boy Sissoko on for goal scorer Casadesus.

Levante’s only real chance of the second half came in the 92nd minute when El Zhar, having dribbled past two Valladolid players, saw his tame shot saved by Marino.

The full-time whistle drew the curtain on a game which started with pace in abundance but ended with the sound of a whistle ringing in every viewers’ ears. The draw sees Levante move into Europa League places and remain unbeaten in seven matches – the highest run since Caparros took over. For Valladolid, the point was meaningless. They remain in the bottom three, two points off safety, but have now stretched their unbeaten run to five games.

Man-of-the-match: Juanfran. Despite his age of 37, the Levante skipper has been their best player this season. His reading of the game and experience in one-on-one situations aided his side tonight, especially in the first-half, as they sustained a barrage of Valladolid attacks. He completed all five of his attempted tackles, all on the right-hand side of the pitch where Valladolid focused their attacks, as well as making three crucial interceptions on the edge of his box.