Chelsea move from one Catalonian opposition coach to another, and hope for better luck against Albert Celades and Valencia than was the case against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Saturday.

Local newspapers are describing this as the most important Champions league match for Los Che in 12 years – since they lost 2-1 to Chelsea and a Michael Essien stunner, in fact.

The stadium will flutter to the riffle of orange flags in the home stands as Chelsea look to reverse our defeat against them in the opening round of matches.

Back at the Bridge the Blues were denied a draw – more than justified by the overall performance – when Ross Barkley missed from the penalty spot. Nevertheless, the Londoners have scored three goals or more in six of our past 12 European matches, and netted four last time out in this competition.

Chelsea still shared the points with Ajax, and that is the reason Group H is so tight, with three teams tied on seven points. Tonight is not quite the shoot-out at the OK Mestalla, but a win for either side would clinch progress to the knockouts through superiority in head-to-head results with Ajax and Valencia.

A third Blues victory in four visits to the stadium would leave Los Che needing a win by more than three goals in Amsterdam on matchday six to reach the Round of 16.

Previous Mestalla meetings

Chelsea and Valencia will lock horns for the eighth occasion in the Champions League this evening. Matchday One at the Bridge brought Valencia’s only victory in that series to date.

Prior to this season, all past six meetings came in the space of four-and-a-half years – four of those in 2007. First up, the Blues were 3-2 aggregate winners against the Spaniards in the 2006/07 Champions League quarter-finals, winning 2-1 at Mestalla after a 1-1 draw in west London.

We prevailed again in Valencia by two goals to one in the following season’s group stage, before a goalless draw in England. That campaign ended at the final in Moscow.

Chelsea’s run to glory in the 2011/12 Champions League featured two games against Unai Emery’s side in the group stage, Frank Lampard scoring in a 1-1 draw at Mestalla on Matchday Two before a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Matchday Six – the Londoners’ only home success against Los Murcielagos (The Bats).

In the other half of Group H Ajax will be without the suspended Daley Blind and Joel Weltman for the trip to Lille, who cannot qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League but could still snatch a Europa League slot.

Lessons from Matchday One

Lampard was unbeaten in four Champions League outings against Valencia as a player, and scored the opener in a 1-1 draw there in 2011. The encounter at the Bridge was his first as a coach in this competition and the team has improved immeasurably since that narrow defeat.

Since that evening, Christian Pulisic has emerged to have a huge impact, N’Golo Kante, Reece James and Emerson Palmeiri returned to fitness, and solutions have been found to the vulnerability at set-plays that led to Rodrigo’s goal – one of only two Valencia shots on target.

The Blues used a back three against the Spanish visitors’ 4-4-2 shape, dominated possession and were winning the ball high upfield, especially before the early departure of Mason Mount due to injury. The Spaniards were also loose in possession and the Blues won 10 corners, with 22 attempts on goal. If there is a prevailing concern it is the need to convert chances more efficiently.

Crisis? What crisis?

Home supporters may be wondering which version of Valencia will turn up this evening after they looked very much second best losing to Real Betis away at the Benito Villamarin Stadium, where they lifted the Copa del Rey last season. Prior to Saturday’s 2-1 loss they had achieved remarkable results in defiance of their depiction as a club in crisis.

Spain’s media talks of supporters protesting against the owner and the sacking of head coach Marcelino, while sporting director Mateu Alemany departed last week, and their best players are linked with summer moves to balance the books.

Yet Los Che had won their previous three games in all competitions before the Betis game, were rising up the Primera, and remain in a position to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

Another problem for new coach Celades and his staff has been a rash of injuries in several areas. With Mouctar Diakhaby out and veteran Ezekiel Garay having missed training recently, Eliaquim Mangala may be asked to partner Gabriel Paulista in central defence for a second time in four days despite returning from a long time out injured. Paulista, you may remember, was sent off once and lost all three games against the Blues while at Arsenal.

Another former Gunner, Francois Coquelin, may make tonight’s match but fellow central midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia will be a big miss for Los Che, with right-back Daniel Wass a possible replacement.

Denis Chersyhev is another starter at the Bridge who will not make the return match, while goalscorer Rodrigo may not be 100 per cent. Better news for Celades is the recent return of target man Kevin Gameiro. As we saw in London, Valencia are content to retain possession in their own half, hitting swiftly on the counter-attack or taking shots from distance.

Primera versus Premier

The broader context in which tonight’s game sits is the battle for European supremacy between the elite clubs of Spain and England.

Last season’s all-English Champions League final was the first since 2013 without a representative from La Liga. In fact, semi-finalists Barcelona were the only Spanish side to make it out of the Round of 16, while four Premier League clubs banked revenue up to the quarter-finals and three cashed in as far as the semis.

Ultimately, those financial disparities can affect a domestic league’s ability to hire the most expensive talent and, ultimately, how much broadcasters are prepared to invest on its attractiveness to viewers. A vicious circle.

Primera clubs may not finish top of their groups again this season, leaving open the possibility of a tricky second leg away from home should they qualify for the Round of 16. Real Madrid drew 2-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain last night and will finish second, while Atletico Madrid lost 1-0 at Juventus and are not yet certain to reach the knockout stage. Later tonight, Dortmund take on Barcelona, who have been the best performing Spaniards, albeit with the second-lowest points total and the equal lowest goal difference of any group leader.

Early birds on the banks of the Turia

This is Chelsea’s fifth 5.55pm kick-off in Europe and the second this season. Staggered start times were first used in the Europa League and later introduced to each Champions League match day with a view to ‘allowing fans opportunities to watch more matches’.

The 5.55pm slot is also more sociable than 8pm in many parts of the world, including Asia and Australia. A bigger, wider audience means broadcasters will pay more for rights and in new parts of the globe.

The split also served to close a ‘loop-hole’ whereby national associations circumvented UEFA’s ban on domestic fixtures being played the same evening by completing them before the European games kicked off.

Meanwhile, it was announced that BT Sport have retained the exclusive broadcast rights to the Champions League in the UK for the next contract, which runs from 2021 to 2024, despite reported competition from ITV and Sky Sports. The broadcaster will show 77 more UEFA matches than is currently the case with the advent of the third-tier Europa Conference League.

Champions League results and fixtures

TuesdayGalatasaray 1 Club Bruges 1Lokomotiv Moscow 0 Bayer Leverkusen 2Atalanta 2 Dinamo Zagreb 0Juventus 1 Atletico Madrid 0Manchester City 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 1Real Madrid 2 PSG 2Red Star Belgrade 0 Bayern Munich 6Tottenham 4 Olympiacos 2

WednesdayZenit St Petersburg v Lyon 5.55pmValencia v Chelsea 5.55pmBarcelona v Dortmund 8pmGenk v RB Salzburg 8pmRB Leipzig v Benfica 8pmLille v Ajax 8pmLiverpool v Napoli 8pmSlavia Prague v Inter 8pm

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