Valencia Have the Depth and Quality to Recover from Defeat and Claim Top-4 Spot

Valencia had made an impressive start to the 2013-14 La Liga season, finding themselves in the top three up until their most recent fixture, but a heavy 3-0 defeat away to relegation-zone side Deportivo La Coruna has halted their progress for now.

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3 - Deportivo have recorded their biggest win in a La Liga game against Valencia since 1995 (3-0). Super.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 19, 2014"

With one Champions League spot certainly up for grabs in the Spanish top flight and Los Che having placed third in three consecutive campaigns up until last year, they are one of the favourites to clinch the fourth spot and return as a European force once more.

Following that defeat to Depor, though, and a tough run of games coming up, new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has to regroup his side and prove that they have the depth, quality and consistency to continue getting the good results required to finish in the top four.

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Valencia coach Nuno back at Deportivo, club he joined back in mid-1990s in what was Jorge Mendes first ever transfer in football #memories

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) October 19, 2014"

First Defeat

Valencia remain fourth following the weekend's games, with the defeat in La Coruna being their first of the league season. They have a good defensive record—only Barcelona, who've yet to concede a goal in La Liga this season, have a better goals-against tally—and have shown in plenty of games that they can dominate, create and have a clinical edge about them.

However, their recent loss does mark two games out of the last three in La Liga, the other being a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad, that they have struggled to translate having the ball into much meaningful possession in the final third, something that indicates there is still much work to do.

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Valencia's first loss at Riazor since 2003. Nuno's side: 4 total shots, 17 bookings, and 67 giveaways. Lesson learned I would hope.

— Adam Matvya (@adammatvya) October 19, 2014"

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FT Depor 3-0 Valencia. Victor Fernandez gets one over former player Nuno, named very attacking side which overcame cautious visitors.

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) October 19, 2014"

What Valencia do have, though, is a little depth now in key areas.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Shkodran Mustafi at centre-back has been hit-or-miss since coming into the side, but youngster Vezo looked more than capable alongside Nicolas Otamendi. Sofiane Feghouli, Pablo Piatti and Rodrigo have all had to exchange places in attack at times, giving Nuno an option off the bench to change things in the final third.

And in midfield, Javi Fuego and Filipe Augusto give Valencia a bruising, physical side to their play to back up the more technical, offensive-minded Dani Parejo, Andre Gomes and Carles Gil.

Testing Games

Five wins from eight games means that, even with the weekend defeat, Valencia stay above Atletico Madrid on goal difference—though by the end of the season, head-to-head results count for more than that separator, of course.

Two of their next four matches come against sides in the bottom three, Elche and Levante, and will be games that Valencia are expected to take nothing less than three points from each time. The wins should come if they are to not only bounce back from defeat and show mental resilience but also prove they are able to consistently grind out the wins needed to eventually claim a top-four finish.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Between those two, however, Valencia face two of their biggest rivals for that all-important fourth place: Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao.

The latter of course took the spot last year, though they have begun this season with a woeful series of results, which leaves them in 17th place at present. They will still be no pushovers, though, and Valencia will have to be far better than their offensive play against Real Sociedad of a few weeks back showed.

After that bout of four games, still some time off of course, comes the small matter of Barcelona.

Top-Four Challengers

Villarreal are perhaps the bigger imminent threat to Valencia, with their exciting and pace-fuelled attacking line and their hard-working, diligent midfield. Valencia have the deeper squad, but in an 11-on-11 scenario, Villarreal can certainly match Los Che.

It will come down to who can be the more incisive around the penalty area, with both teams boasting impressive goalkeepers and, for the most part, strong defensive pairings. But both have proved culpable to a few mistakes, too.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

The other big opposition to fourth place this season is Sevilla; the Andalucian side have only lost once themselves and sit second in the table, two points above Valencia.

Nuno has made an exciting start to the season, which gives fans of the team plenty of optimism that Valencia can establish themselves as a top-four side once more—not just for a single season but, as was the case between 2009 and 2012, as more or less a permanent fixture. The signings could well keep on coming in January, and the manager is proving himself adept at getting the best out of them.

With Bilbao's demise and Sevilla similarly unproven over an entire campaign, Valencia sense that opportunity knocks.

But first they must prove themselves capable of bouncing back from their first major set-back with telling fixtures ahead.

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