Mestalla tunnel mantra fuels Valencia resilience as Oviedo rematch looms | OneFootball

Valencia head to Real Oviedo on Saturday with a renewed edge, their stoppage-time comeback against Alavés crystallising a tunnel mantra at Mestalla about fighting to the end.

According to AS, Oviedo’s win in Valencia earlier this season stung, not least after Danjuma missed a penalty that would have made it 0-2, and the side initially struggled to respond.

In the five metre corridor between the dressing room and tunnel, historic figures were replaced after that game by canvases of the current squad and two hard-edged messages about home and resolve to fight to the last. The idea was put forward by Carlos Corberán so players would see them last before stepping onto the pitch.

Since then, Valencia have taken five wins from eight in the second half of the season, sitting closer to seventh than the drop for the first time. Against Quique’s Alavés they turned it late with goals on 90 and 99, Mestalla playing its part deep into added time.

It was almost three years, since 27 April 2023 and Javi Guerra’s decisive strike against Real Valladolid, that they had last overturned a league match.

Barring defeats to Villarreal and Real Madrid, they have refused to fold, clawing back draws at Mestalla against Betis, Sevilla, Mallorca and Elche. The equalisers arrived in the final 10 minutes, except against Mallorca when it was 1-1 by minute 52.

Wins over Levante and Espanyol were sealed by an 80th-minute Hugo Duro goal and a 94th-minute penalty from Ramazani. The Alavés finale further stiffened belief in those tunnel words.

Source: AS