Valencia to be without two key players for Real Madrid showdown | OneFootball

Valencia and Real Madrid will play the first match of La Liga in 2025 on Friday, with this fixture being rescheduled from November after it was postponed because of Storm DANA. It will also see a debut for new Los Che head coach Carlos Corberan, who was appointed last week after the sacking of Ruben Baraja.

It will be a tough start to his managerial career at the Mestalla for Corberan, especially so as he will be unable to call on Giorgi Mamardashvili or Jose Gaya for the match against Real Madrid. As per Diario AS, both are still out with the injuries they sustained earlier in the month.

It means that Stole Dimitrievski will continue in goals for Valencia, while the left-back position is much more open. Luis Rioja started there the last couple of matches, and despite being a winger, he was tested there once again by Corberan, which hints that he will be used there against Real Madrid too.