Valencia fans are never better than when the big sides visit Mestalla and there will no doubt be a raucous atmosphere when Barcelona take to the field on Saturday night at 21:00 CEST.
Los Che had started the season well but just one win in their last five has raised doubts about their ability to keep a cool head when the going gets tough.
Manager Gennaro Gattuso is not known for that himself, but will be looking forward to potentially taking a scalp.
He also told Sport that he was looking forward to seeing Xavi Hernandez, once his opponent on the pitch.
“I am very happy to see him again. I have a lot of respect for him. It will be a pleasure and an honour to play against him.”
“When I ran, he played. Barça played very well”
Gattuso claimed that he would not be sitting deep and defending against Barcelona, nor anyone.
“I always like to play the same. My style of play and my mentality are not going to change even if we play against Barça”.
He did acknowledge the threat carried by the Blaugrana though.
“I like to talk about my team because I already have enough problems here. There are two ‘Barcelonas’ and the one from La Liga scores a lot of goals and plays incredible”, he analysed. “You have to respect the opponent. The game starts with a goalless draw and we are eleven against eleven.”
A large part of Gattuso’s message will be to maintain the calm amongst a fiery Mestalla. Although not all of them have come for players on the pitch, Valencia have received four red cards in their 11 matches so far.
