European giants in freefall with ‘world’s greatest stadium’ left abandoned and owner told to go home and never return
THEY were in the Champions League final two seasons running just two decades ago.
But now one of Europe’s biggest clubs are in freefall.
They currently sit bottom of the league on just six points and staring down the barrel at relegation.
And following their latest humiliating defeat, fans blockaded the stadium in the hope of trapping the hated owners inside.
Meanwhile, construction of a new ground which was meant to be the ‘world’s greatest stadium’ has ground to a complete halt with nothing done since 2009.
As a result of the Nou Mestalla being left an empty shell with no plan for work to restart, it was scrapped as a World Cup 2030 host venue.
And all of this has left the club’s fans furious with owner Peter Lim, who also owns Salford City, alongside Gary Neville and a group of Man Utd legends.
Valencia were Champions League finalists in 2000 and 2001, losing to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.
But a 3-2 home defeat to Las Palmas on left the club staring down the barrel at relegation.
They now sit rock bottom of La Liga, two points off 17th-placed Leganes.
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Ahead of the Las Palmas game, manager and club legend Ruben Baraja commented that the club would not be able to aim any higher than simply avoiding the drop this season.
He said: “When we talked about our objectives, what we wanted was to stop the suffering, to improve in that sense.
“But the league campaign has brought us to this scenario. It is what it is.”
Footage from the streets in Valencia showed a skip set on fire as the police attempted to disperse the post-match protest.