Leeds United round off their pre-season schedule with a test against Spanish outfit Valencia CF at Elland Road on Saturday, with the action getting underway at 3pm.
Daniel Farke’s side kicked off their friendly campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Harrogate Town away from home, before travelling to Germany for a training camp.
On the continent, the Whites would continue to impress, following up that win over the Sulphurites with a 4-1 demolition of Hannover 96, thanks to first-half goals from Ilia Gruev and Joel Piroe, and a second-half brace from Mateo Joseph.
Leeds then made it two wins from two in the manager’s native Germany, beating Hannover’s fellow 2. Bundesliga side Schalke 2-0, with Joseph and Piroe amongst the goals once more.
After a difficult 2022/23 season saw Valencia CF narrowly avoid relegation on the final day, Rubén Baraja’s men enjoyed a much better campaign last time round as they finished ninth in La Liga.
Club legend Baraja, having won two Spanish league titles and a UEFA Cup with the Mestalla side during his illustrious playing career, turned to youth as Valencia rebuilt, with youngsters Cristhian Mosquera, Javi Guerra, Fran Pérez and Hugo Duro starring last term, as well as midfielder Pepelu, who joined from city rivals Levante.
Los Ches kicked off their preparations for the upcoming La Liga campaign with a goalless draw against CD Castellón, before being narrowly edged out by Alavés.
Last Saturday, Valencia travelled to Eindhoven to face reigning Dutch champions PSV, losing 2-1 despite former Brentford winger Sergi Canos’ goal inside the opening 20 minutes, before drawing with Levante on Wednesday.
The first meeting between the two clubs came in the 1965/66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, where the Whites would prevail 2-1 on aggregate following a 1-1 draw at Elland Road and a 1-0 victory at the Mestalla, with Don Revie's side going on to reach the competition’s semi-finals.
The tournament's third round would see the sides do battle once more the following season, with the Whites again progressing after a 3-1 victory over two legs.
After the Spanish side triumphed in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the teams last met in a 2004 friendly Elland Road, drawing 2-2.
Ticket information:
Tickets are still available for Saturday’s match and can be purchased HERE. Tickets are priced at £15 for adults, £12 for disabled adults, £10 for concessions and £5 for Under-16s.
How to watch:
LUTV will be providing full coverage of Saturday’s pre-season friendly, with commentary from Bryn Law and Michael Bridges. LUTV passes are available to buy for £4.99, HERE.
Please note, existing LUTV subscriptions do not cover any pre-season games and no audio-only commentary will be available. The only way to watch these games on LUTV is by purchasing a match pass through LUTV.
The match is available to watch live worldwide, excluding Spain, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, due to broadcast restrictions. For supporters in Norway, the game will be broadcast by VG.
Supporters can also follow all the updates live on leedsunited.com with our online blog throughout the match and a full match report to follow the full-time whistle.
Mateo continues his impressive pre-season form:
Important supporter information:
Please note that the Park & Ride Service that operates in partnership with Hunters Coaches from Temple Green and Stourton will not be operating for the match, however the service will resume for the Portsmouth fixture.
Discriminatory language or chanting is not acceptable and you could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds.
To report an incident, text LEEDS along with any relevant information including ticket details, your name and description of an incident to 60006. You will then receive an automated response which means that your report has been logged and will then be looked into.
Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle dangerous and illegal behaviours within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behaviour, tragedy chanting, fans entering the pitch, the use of pyros and throwing objects.
Head to head:
Wins: 2
Draws: 3
Losses: 1
2023/24 league position:
Leeds: 3rd (Sky Bet Championship)
Valencia: 9th (La Liga)
Officials:
Referee - James Bell
Assistant referees - Wade Smith, Ian Cooper
Fourth official - Sam Barrott
