Javier Aguirre's Valencia debut comes at Racing with four points from seven games

Javier Aguirre takes charge of Valencia for the first time on Sunday at 21:00, away to Racing de Santander at El Sardinero, with the club in the relegation places on four points from seven matches. The 67-year-old Mexican has had close to three weeks of training at Paterna during the international break to prepare for a fixture Valencia cannot afford to lose.

The numbers he inherits

Valencia have won one, drawn one and lost five of their seven LaLiga games, scoring four and conceding 13. Only Málaga, with three, have scored fewer. Superdeporte puts the concession rate at 1.85 goals per match, the first thing Aguirre has to fix. Racing, back in Primera this season, sit three points above them on seven, which makes Sunday a direct meeting between two clubs near the bottom.

Effort before system

Aguirre's message to the squad repeats the one he used when he arrived at Mallorca in March 2022 to keep them up, according to Superdeporte: players who do not run for the team will struggle to start. "Beating my teams should cost you blood, sweat and tears. I was a pretty clumsy footballer, but I left the last drop of sweat out there. Effort is non-negotiable, as they say now," he said at his presentation at Mestalla. He also addressed squad management directly: "Only eleven play, you have five substitutions and there are 26 players."

At Mallorca he applied that rule to his most gifted players: Kang-in Lee started only one of the nine matches Aguirre coached at the end of 2021/22. Superdeporte names Ryunosuke Sato, Javi Guerra, Harvey Elliott and Arnaut Danjuma as the Valencia players now expected to add the same work without the ball.

Selection questions

The first problem is the left wing. Danjuma, who played there in recent matches, has not trained all week, and Luis Rioja has not completed a session with the group, Superdeporte reports. The options are Sato, Elliott or Dani Raba, who has played eight minutes this season, or a change of system. Elliott has also been tried as an alternative to Guerra in the number 10 role.

There is better news in midfield and in goal. Guido Rodríguez, given permission to attend Lionel Messi's farewell with Argentina, and goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, back from North Macedonia duty, have both rejoined training. "We are the ones responsible for Valencia's situation. We can only do one thing: win," Guido told À Punt on his return. Captain José Luis Gayà backed the new coach's experience in comments reported by Marca: "He knows the competition very well and that is very important."

A familiar opponent, a rare venue

Aguirre has 15 seasons of experience in Spain with Osasuna, Atlético de Madrid, Zaragoza, Espanyol, Leganés and Mallorca. Against Valencia his record across 24 matches is perfectly even, Marca calculates: nine wins, six draws, nine defeats and 26 goals each way.

Valencia have not played at El Sardinero for 14 years; the last visit, on 29 January 2012, ended 2-2, Las Provincias recalls. Racing, coached by José Alberto, include four former Valencia players: Sergio Canales, goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala, Facundo González and André Almeida, who is on loan from Valencia and is allowed to play. Racing great Pedro Munitis expects a hard night: "If he is known for anything, it is for building very solid teams, and it will surely be a very tough game."