Tension mounts at Valencia

Spanish champions 18 months ago, Valencia CF's disappointing domestic season is rapidly descending into a disaster with players reportedly fighting among themselves.

Ugly rumours
The one-time UEFA Champions League stalwarts have been slowly sinking down the Primera División table ever since they defeated Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabéu on 23 October, and rumours suggest the atmosphere at the training ground is getting increasingly charged.

Training-ground battles
Only yesterday, Spanish papers ran stories of a training ground confrontation between Raúl Albiol and Pablo Aimar, and that is not the first time matters have reportedly become heated as the players try to get used to life under their new coach Quique Sánchez Flores. The club went as far as imposing a 72-hour press black-out to prevent players airing grievances with journalists.

Nervous players
Sánchez Flores insists that he is doing his best to maintain calm at the club, who have drawn one and lost two of their last three matches. "During the training sessions the players compete well but I would like them to forget their anguish, fear and panic when it comes to playing a match," he said.

Winning run
"Once we have won two matches in succession, the atmosphere will change. We have had peaks against Madrid and [FC] Barcelona, some bad matches and some where we could have won but didn't. The team is far from what I had in mind, but our objective is to be in the UEFA Champions League next season."

Vital game
Valencia take on Cádiz CF this Sunday in what is a vital match for Sánchez Flores's men. Valencia dropped out of the European places with a 1-0 derby defeat at Villarreal CF on 30 October, and despite the probable absence of the injured David Albelda, they will be eager to get back into contention as soon as possible.

Seville derby
In another tense game this weekend, the Sánchez Pizjuan stadium will be the venue for the derby between Sevilla CF and Real Betis Balompié. Sevilla chairman José María del Nido has called for calm as tension rises between supporters of the two clubs, who are playing in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League respectively.

Civic decorum
"The Andalusian capital's clubs are brother teams and I hope the supporters keep the peace without losing that spark we have," he said. "Confrontations don't take us anywhere and both teams belong to the same neighbourhood. We are fellow citizens and if we don't treat this derby accordingly, we are wrong."