Real Valladolid vs Valencia preview - Valencia aim to put it right

Valencia head to Real Valladolid desperate to erase the memory of their 3-0 defeat at Basle in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie.

The result all but puts Valencia out of the tournament and means a repeat appearance in European competition next season is nigh on impossible.

Captain Jeremy Mathieu was particularly scathing of his team's performance in a press conference on Friday.

"It's incredible we lost that way in a quarter-final tie," he said.

"It was disastrous. It's difficult for everyone in the team and I have no words to describe the disappointing and disastrous performance we gave in the first half. We didn't run, we didn't fight, we didn't do anything."

The Frenchman put his team's performance down to a combination of having too many inexperienced players and playing as individuals instead of as a team.

"I think we are a very young team. We need to learn from our errors and teach the youngsters to go out onto that pitch with a winning mentality," he said. "We can only win if we are united. If each player does his own thing, we will achieve nothing."

The shambles in Switzerland followed a 3-1 defeat at home to Getafe, which saw Valencia become the first team to lose to the Madrid side in 16 matches.

Mathieu was sent off in the closing stages for swinging out at Pedro Leon, and is suspended for the trip to Valladolid, adding to Valencia's defensive woes, with Philippe Senderos ruled out of action for at least a month with a muscular injury sustained in Basle, and Antonio Barragan doubtful.

While things could hardly get worse for Valencia, they face a Valladolid team buoyed after their narrow win over Almeria, although Juan Ignacio Martinez's side are still level on points with the relegation zone.

"I hope that everyone can see out on the pitch that we need to win and that the fans can give us another vital show of support in these times, because it's a very difficult game," Martinez told reporters.

The coach also refused to take Valencia's defensive frailties as a plus point.

"Even though they'll come here with some players missing in defence, they have a lot of attacking power and it will be a great game, even though I'm sure we're going to suffer at the back because of their quality."

In contrast to his counterpart Juan Antonio Pizzi, Martinez has a full squad to choose from.