Real Valladolid vs Levante preview - Martinez: Levante clash is crucial

Posted Thursday, February 20, 2014 by PA

Real Valladolid coach Juan Ignacio Martinez admits his side cannot afford to slip any further adrift of their Primera Division relegation rivals as they prepare to welcome his former side Levante to the Jose Zorrilla stadium.

Third-bottom Valladolid were fortunate that last weekend's 3-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid did not cost them any ground in the battle to avoid the drop as most of the teams around them also lost.

However, with his side still three points adrift of safety and with time starting to run out, Martinez knows they need to get something out of the visit of Levante, highlighting the importance of winning their remaining home games.

He said: "It's a vital game for us as we cannot allow the gap to our rivals to grow. There are no excuses.

"We need to combine energy with our fans in all our home games. Everything depends on winning these three points and then many more if we want to stay in the Primera Division."

Levante make the trip to Valladolid in good league form, taking 12 points from an unbeaten six-match run to climb up to 10th in La Liga.

Joaquin Caparros' side have also proved themselves a tough side to finish off this season and have only really been convincingly beaten four times - three times by reigning champions Barcelona in the league and cup (7-0, 5-1 and 4-1) and once by Villarreal (3-0).

As such, Martinez is bracing his side for a hard-fought game against the club he left last summer.

He said: "We are against a team in good form, who are strong in defence and have been involved in many tight games, which shows their consistency.

"It will be very tight in every aspect. We need to have a lot of patience."

Levante had looked in danger of being sucked into the relegation zone themselves around the turn of the year after losing six of seven matches, but their improved recent form has left them looking up the table rather than down.

A point on Friday would lift them up to seventh ahead of this weekend's remaining fixtures, and Mozambique midfielder Simao Mate said: "I'm thinking about Europe, I don't know about my team-mates.

"The important thing is that we keep doing the work that we're doing, taking it game by game.

"It's nice, we have the opportunity to dream of the Europa League. We need to dream but we also have to keep working and if we can get into Europe, so much the better."