Next Sunday, 4th of January 2015, the current European and World champions, Real Madrid, will travel to the emblematic Mestalla to measure forces with Valencia for round 17 of the Spanish Liga BBVA, on what will certainly be the most important and exciting match of the round at La Liga between two top quality teams that will battle for the three points until the final whistle.

The last time Real Madrid played a league match was back in the beginning of December, when they experienced some difficulties to overcome Almeria but ended up by clinching the three points after a splendid second-half performance. After that clash, Los Blancos travelled to Morocco to dispute the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup where unsurprisingly they ended up victorious. Real Madrid are definitely a far stronger team this season when compared to last campaign. Los Blancos are now more mature and have in Cristiano Ronaldo a true leader that, in a way, is carrying the team on his back. Carlo Ancelotti’s splendid work also cannot be ignored. The way he managed to deal with all the egos and super egos that compose Real’s team has been absolutely remarkable so far and if they continue this way, they will certainly lift La Liga’s trophy at the end of the season.

Los Blancos match at Mestalla next Sunday, will surely be a big test for them and Carlo Ancelotti is certainly preparing for that demanding clash very carefully. For his team’s travel to Communidad Valenciana, the Italian manager will not be able to rely on Luka Modric’s contribution, since the Croatian playmaker is still recovering from his complicated injury.

As for Valencia, they are having a fantastic overall performance so far at La Liga. Los Che are a completely different team from the one of last season and their new manager’s (Nuno Espirito Santo) contribution has been of the utmost importance until. The former Deportivo’s goalkeeper, Nuno Espirito Santo is surprising every single person that questioned his managerial skills when he arrived at Valencia last Summer, as he managed to place Los Che among the Spanish football powerhouses once again.

Last round, Valencia snatched a complicated and narrow 1-0 at the Basque Country, where they had to dig deep in order to overcome a mighty Eibar side.

Although Los Che have been fantastic so far, their next opponents, Real Madrid, are favourites for the upcoming match that will, nevertheless, certainly have an unpredictable outcome.

Valencia

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - WDWDW

Real Madrid

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - LWWWW

Possible Line-ups

Valencia (4-3-3) - Diego Alves - Gayá - Otamendi - Mustafi - Barragan - Javi Fuego - André Gomes - Parejo - Piatti - Paco Alcacer - Negredo

Real Madrid (4-4-2) - Casillas - Carvajal - Pepe - Sergio Ramos - Marcelo - James - Kroos - Isco - Ronaldo - Bale - Benzema

Prediction

Valencia 1 Real Madrid 1