Valencia left staring into the abyss as Sevilla prevail in battle of fallen giants

A t the end of the tunnel, Bryan Gil found a quiet corner to talk to old friends, lingering by the dressing room door, but there wasn’t much he could say that would help now. The last time he had been here, a year ago, he and his Valencia teammates had gathered on the stadium balcony overlooking Avenida Suecia, leaping about and spraying champagne everywhere. That night, thousands gathered below, celebrating reaching the Cup final and singing for him to stay. This time, late on Sunday night, they were out there again; though he had changed team and they had changed tune.

Gil had thought he would be back, just not like this. In the summer, a deal had been done to return to Valencia on loan again, only for Antonio Conte, then Tottenham manager, to block it; in the winter, it had happened again, Valencia signing no one. Gil had joined Sevilla instead, returning to Mestalla only to slip in the knife. About the only man applauded off, he departed wearing an apologetic look, aware of the damage done, how they hurt: the winger who had helped take Valencia to a final back then helped send them towards segunda now, with a 2-0 victory that pulled Sevilla safe. “Air to breathe,” Suso called it.

This was not the way it is supposed to be, for Gil or anyone. Sure, Valencia v Sevilla is meant to be big, but not this kind of big: it’s not meant to be a relegation battle. The all-time league table has them fourth and sixth and they have 40,000 season ticket holders and 35 trophies between them. Huge clubs, since they began in primera, they have only been absent from the top flight five years combined and are ever-present this century, in which they’ve won two league titles, six Uefa Cups and four Copa del Reys, finished in the top four