Valencia sack coach Celades following back-to-back defeats

January 25, 2020 Valencia coach Albert Celades before the match REUTERS

Valencia have sacked coach Albert Celades and appointed sporting director Voro until the end of the season, the La Liga club said in a statement on Monday.

The team have picked up only four points in five matches since the season re-started after the COVID-19 hiatus, slipping way behind in contention for Champions League qualification.

Back-to-back defeats by Eibar and Villarreal respectively left them eighth in the standings on 46 points, eight behind fourth-placed Sevilla with six games remaining.

Valencia appointed Celades last September after taking the surprising decision to dispense with Marcelino, who had led the club to successive top-four finishes and ended an 11-year wait for a major trophy by guiding them to win the Copa del Rey.

Celades had never previously been a first team coach at club level, building his reputation as Spain’s under-21 coach and as an assistant to Julen Lopetegui with the Spain side and Real Madrid.

He made a difficult start in losing his first game in charge 5-2 to Barcelona but improved his reputation by taking the team into the last 16 of the Champions League, where they were eventually knocked out by Atalanta 8-4 on aggregate.