Alaves vs Valencia Match Recap - Oct 20, 2025

Stalemate at Mendizorrotza Leaves Alaves and Valencia Searching for Momentum Amid La Liga Logjam

The autumn air at Estadio Mendizorrotza hung heavy with anticipation, but neither Alaves nor Valencia could slice through the tension or the opposing back line, as a drab 0-0 draw on Monday night left both sides rooted in La Liga’s muddled midsection, desperate for a spark to ignite their respective campaigns.

As the final whistle pierced the Basque twilight, it was not so much an ending as an ellipsis—a match that never quite arrived at its promised destination, where fleeting half-chances stood in for drama and the scoreboard stubbornly resisted change. For Alaves, still buoyed by the echoes of a stirring 3-1 triumph over Elche prior to the international break, the inability to break down a beleaguered Valencia outfit felt like a missed opportunity. For Valencia, battered by recent setbacks and still reeling from a humbling 0-6 drubbing at the hands of Barcelona last month, a clean sheet and a point on the road offered slight solace. But the lack of a cutting edge continued to cast a long shadow over their season.

Both managers opted for pragmatism over bravado, mindful of recent inconsistencies that have left their teams stranded in the lower half of the table. Alaves, perched in 11th with 11 points from eight matches, have managed just three wins—each punctuated by defensive resilience but undermined by an attack that flickers rather than roars. Valencia, meanwhile, entered the evening closer to the abyss, 16th in the standings and just three points clear of the drop zone—a stark reminder of the club’s ongoing reconstruction and the impatience brewing among their supporters.

The opening half saw the hosts press with intent, Carlos Vicente and Toni Martínez—both fresh from the scoresheet in the victory over Elche—probing the Valencia defense for weaknesses. Yet for all their endeavor, Alaves found themselves repelled time and again by Giorgi Mamardashvili, Valencia’s imposing goalkeeper, whose quick reflexes denied Lucas Boyé from inside the six-yard box after a deft pass from Rubén Duarte in the 34th minute.

Valencia’s counterattacking blueprint nearly bore fruit early in the second half. Diego López, the lone scorer in their previous outing—a 1-2 defeat at Girona—drove into Alaves territory and forced Antonio Sivera into a sprawling save, the ball spinning tantalizingly wide as the visiting contingent gasped in frustration. Moments later, Hugo Duro, whose late goals have punctuated Valencia’s rare bright spells this fall, flashed a header narrowly over the bar after a well-worked corner, but the breakthrough remained elusive.

The game’s turning point—or what passed for one—arrived in the 68th minute. Alaves midfielder Ander Guevara, scorer against Getafe last month, surged forward and unleashed a curling effort from the edge of the area. The shot clipped the outstretched foot of a scrambling Mouctar Diakhaby, wrong-footing Mamardashvili, only for the ball to ricochet inches wide of the post. The collective sigh from the Mendizorrotza faithful was as much about frustration as fatigue, the sense that another winnable match was slipping through their fingers.

Tensions threatened to boil over in the dying minutes after a late challenge by Valencia’s Dimitri Foulquier on substitute Luis Rioja prompted a brief melee, but referee José María Sánchez quickly restored order, issuing only a stern warning and keeping his red card firmly pocketed. By the close, both benches were animated more by anxiety than ambition, watching as time expired and their prospects for an autumn surge flickered uncertainly.

The result marked the second scoreless draw in Alaves’ last five league games, and while it extends their unbeaten run at home, it does little to alleviate the pressure on Luis García Plaza’s side to string together consistent results. Their pattern this season—a win sporadically punctuated by stalemates and narrow defeats—has kept them afloat but not advancing, and with fixtures against top-half opponents looming, the margin for error is vanishing.

Valencia, meanwhile, snapped a two-game losing skid but stretched their winless run to four, a sequence that has halted the momentum of their September victory over Athletic Club. In desperate need of attacking inspiration, manager Rubén Baraja may soon be forced to gamble with tactical changes or personnel. The ghosts of recent head-to-head meetings—where both clubs have tended to share the spoils in low-scoring affairs—hung heavy tonight, another chapter in a rivalry defined more by attrition than artistry.

The stalemate leaves the table largely unchanged: Alaves remain lodged in 11th, their tally of 11 points a fair reflection of a side capable of competing but not yet convincing. Valencia, one of Spain’s storied clubs, are mired in 16th, perilously close to the relegation mire and haunted by the specter of another season spent fighting rather than flourishing.

As both teams turn their eyes toward the daunting November calendar, the urgency is unmistakable. For Alaves, the challenge is to convert defensive discipline into sustained attacking fluency. For Valencia, only a reversal of fortune—and a rediscovered spark in the final third—will prevent this campaign from slipping into the realms of anxiety and regret. Tonight’s match offered little in the way of answers, but it underscored, in the most unforgiving light, the questions both clubs must confront as the long La Liga winter approaches.