Marca: Valencia Coach Corberan's Future Depends on the Next Three Matches

According to Marca, Valencia will face Sevilla, Alaves and Real Sociedad over the next two weeks, putting Corberan's position as head coach under pressure.

Since joining Valencia, Corberan has been experiencing one of the most difficult periods of his tenure. After Valencia suffered a 0-5 defeat to Barcelona at Mestalla, the team collected only one point from the first four La Liga rounds, scoring one goal and conceding nine, leaving them bottom of the table. The latest match also triggered a new round of protests in the stands. Kiat Lim watched the game from the directors' box, and fans mainly directed their criticism toward the head coach. Banners targeting Kiat Lim and football chief executive Ron Gourlay also appeared outside the stadium, while some chants inside the stadium mentioned them as well. After the heavy defeat, around 2,000 fans gathered outside Mestalla to express their dissatisfaction with the team's results and the management.

After the match, Corberan said: "The situation has hurt us, but we have not collapsed." Over the next two weeks, he must show action. Valencia will play Sevilla, Alaves and Real Sociedad within nine days, after which the league will enter a three-week break. For the management, this period could feel especially long. This run of fixtures has now become a dividing line in Corberan's plans for the team. After the defeat, the coach took responsibility. He admitted that the team's performance was below its own standards and that the current situation was difficult, but said he would look for ways to turn things around.

This is not the first time Corberan has faced a crisis at Valencia. Last season, he also passed several critical moments. By matchday seven, he had collected only eight points, and the league would also enter a break due to international fixtures after that round. To reach that points total, Valencia would need to win two and draw one of their next three matches.

At that time, the coach also withstood another period of turmoil and received support from football chief executive Ron Gourlay and president Kiat Lim. At the end of the first half of the season, Valencia had only 17 points, and between matchdays seven and 19 they collected just nine points, remaining in the relegation zone. During that period, both the coach and the team faced significant pressure. For example, after the team lost 1-4 away to Celta Vigo, a small group of fans showed a hostile attitude when welcoming the team at Manises Airport.

Although Valencia did not secure survival until the penultimate round, the club still gave the coach, whose contract runs until 2028, an additional one-year contract. When Corberan took charge of Valencia in the 2024-25 season, the team was already facing a clear relegation threat, but after an unstable start, he turned the situation around through the second half of the campaign. The same pattern occurred last season, with the team earning only 17 points in the first half and 32 points in the second phase.

The unusual schedule this season makes the three-week break long enough for clubs struggling in the standings to potentially use the opportunity to consider changing coaches.