On 23 December 2024, Valencia dismissed Rubén Baraja with the team in the relegation zone after a last-gasp draw with Alavés. The club thanked him for his work and moved quickly to find a successor.
Quique Sánchez Flores emerged as the preferred option. Talks, opened in mid December after earlier contact, included a high-value contract, but negotiations collapsed just as an agreement seemed close.
“It is not that I did not want to return. I knew it would be very difficult and it was impossible for me to say no to Valencia,” said Quique. “There was a moment of agreement, then one party stood up from the table and you cannot do anything. It was not about money. I was told they would not be able to sign players and that did not matter to me because I believed the squad could improve,” he told El Chiringuito.
With that move dead, Carlos Corberán said yes days later, leaving West Bromwich Albion after Valencia triggered the exit clause in his contract. He took over with only 12 points and the side in the drop zone, signing until June 2027.
Corberán kept Valencia up in his first season, producing a second half of the campaign at Champions League level. More than a year on, they meet at Mestalla, Corberán in the home dugout and Quique now in charge of Alavés.
