La Liga 2026/27 Season Preview: Valencia Clubs | OneFootball

The Valencian Community lies along the Mediterranean coast, south of Catalonia, and has a long, proud traditional of soccer excellence. This season, four clubs from the autonomous region are represented in La Liga.

Valencian Teams in La Liga 2026/27

Valencia CF

Once the giants of Spanish soccer with six La Liga titles and eight Copa Del Rey trophies, Valencia CF have been on a never-ending downward spiral under the ownership of Peter Lim. Pre-season friendlies have seen Valencia fans boo the ownership and chant for the manager Carlos Corberán’s head. Adding to supporter’s frustration is that this will be the last season for the club at the iconic Mestalla Stadium after 103 years. Valencia CF are being torn apart.

Last season, Valencia secured a mid-table finish, ending the 2025/26 season in 9th place with 49 points, recording 13 wins, 10 draws and 15 losses. As the last team outside the Spain’s Big Three to win La Liga in 2004, a title charge in their current situation seems like a pipe dream.

The club’s three incoming transfers don’t offer much hope. Ryunosuke Sato from FC Tokyo should provide some spark along the left and elevate the attack a little. Aliou Deng (from Al-Ahly) and Justin de Haas (from Portugal’s Famalicão), arrive to shore up the defense.

It’s looking really, really bleak for them this season, though a mid-table finish is still expected.

Prediction: 8th

Villarreal CF

Villarreal was the undisputed success story outside of the traditional powerhouses last season. They finished 3rd with 72 points, comfortably securing UEFA Champions League soccer. Their success was built on years of refinement and attacking soccer under Marcelino, who has been replaced by Iñigo Pérez this season.

They are best remembered for making history in Europe in 2021 when Villarreal defeated Manchester United to win the UEFA Europa League, the first and only major trophy in club history.

Last season, they completely disregarded the Champions League, finishing 35th, to focus on getting into the top four in La Liga. This season, under Iñigo Pérez, who is fresh off a Conference League final with Rayo Vallecano, they will have to balance both domestic and continental soccer.

To help Villarreal, the board has signed only two names so far. Their only permanent signing has been goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi from RB Leipzig, but loan returnees like Ilias Akhomach, Carlos Romero and Thiago Fernández will be very important for squad depth.

Prediction: 4th

Levante UD

The good news: Levante’s survival was assured on the final matchday of La Liga, after they were on the verge of going straight down to Segunda after getting promoted. The bad news: Carlos Espí, the main driver behind their survival, just completed a $29 million move to Real Madrid. The Spanish forward scored 11 goals in the latter half of the season to keep Levante’s hopes of survival alive. But now, with his departure, things will be a bit tough.

They have brought in Yanis Musuayi as his replacement, who scored 7 goals last season for Club NXT in Belgium. Additionally, Hugo Sotelo, Enzo Bardeli and Aïssa Mandi have also been signed to help Levante’s fight for survival this season.

They leaked 61 goals last season, the league’s worst record. Finishing 16th and tied with 18th-place Mallorca on 42 points was enough for their survival, but this time it might not be enough.

Prediction: 18th

Elche CF

Elche successfully achieved their primary objective in 2025/26: surviving their first season back in the top flight. They finished 15th with 43 points, playing attractive soccer in the early parts of the season. Under Eder Sarabia, Elche were consistently punching above their weight in the first half of the season before succumbing to player injuries and fatigue.

They, too, survived on the final day of the season just one point away from being relegated. Survival this season looks tough as well, but at least they have moved swiftly in the market.

They have brought in Gonzalo Villa from Dinamo Zagreb, Buba Sangaré from Roma, Víctor Chust from Cádiz, Fer Niño from Burgos and Javi Morcillo from Atlético Madrid. But their biggest problems are the departures. They lost their manager Eder Sarabia and key players like Álvaro Rodríguez, Aleix Febas and André Silva, who were instrumental in their survival last season.

I don’t see them staying up, unfortunately.

Prediction: 20th

RCD Espanyol (Catalonia)

Espanyol’s 2025/26 season was a statistical anomaly. They finished a comfortable 11th with 46 points, yet they simultaneously went on a historic 18-match winless run during the campaign. I don’t know how Manolo González managed that, but they somehow survived on sheer luck. Before Christmas, they were expected to comfortably qualify for Europe, however the Navidad celebrations in Barcelona left a five-month-long hangover.

Despite that, I think this team has great quality. They showed it last season, and I think they will be able to maintain at least 50% of that intensity. They have made three loan signings so far: Quilindschy Hartman from Burnley, Gabriel Moscardo from PSG and Unai Núñez from Celta. I wish they would have tried harder to keep Carlos Romero, one of the standout players from last campaign, but he returned to Villarreal at the end of his loan.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say, for my wild prediction of the season, that Espanyol get into Europe. In fact, they finish 5th, ahead of clubs like Real Betis and Celta Vigo, who have their own European adventures this season which might affect their domestic season. Espanyol should have had their own European adventure this season had they not faltered after Christmas, but maybe this is the year.

Prediction: 5th

For the other Barcelona based club and the Madrid clubs, stay tuned for our next part of La Liga 2026/27 preview.