La Liga feature: Know more about Real Valladolid

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April 28 2024, 07:30 PM

ATK Mohun Bagan

Odisha

Bengaluru, October 4: Real Valladolid hosts Atletico Madrid in a keenly-awaited La Liga fixture on Sunday (October) at the Jose Zorrilla Stadium.

Valladolid just returned for another season of La Liga football after being the only newly promoted side to preserve their top flight status in 2018-19.

Following a busy summer in the transfer market and with a legendary president in the form of Ronaldo Nazario, the future looks bright for the club from Spain's central region.

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Known as Los Blanquivioletas - the 'white and violets' - due to the club's distinctive white and purple colors, they are historically La Liga's 13th most successful club having spent 44 seasons in the top flight.

Not many know the fact that the fastest goal in La Liga history was scored by a Valladolid player. Striker Joseba Llorente took just 7sec to put the ball into the back of the net against RCD Espanyol on January 20, 2008.

Here, with MSL inputs, myKhel.com looks at some of the other salient features of Real Valladolid.

Young talent to the fore

This is a squad filled with young talent. Turkish striker and La Liga rising star Enes Unal returns on loan this season after topping the club's goalscoring charts last year. He is joined by former Barcelona and Malaga striker Sandro Ramirez and defender Pedro Porro, who was picked up by Manchester City from Girona this summer.

24-year-old Spanish winger Waldo Rubio (pictured) exploded onto the scene towards the end of last season to help keep the team up and he has continued his rich vein of form into this campaign, picking up a match-winning assist in Valladolid's opening day win over Betis.

Mastermind behind success

Sergio Gonzalez has worked wonders since arriving in the Valladolid dugout. He led the team from 11th place to promotion after taking over just eight games before the end of the 2017-18 La Liga SmartBank season.

The Catalan then masterminded the club's survival in their first season back in the top flight. He is quickly becoming a legend around the city and beyond.

Pneumonia Stadium

The 26,512-capacity Jose Zorrilla stadium was built for the 1982 World Cup and has been the club's home since then. Renovated in 1996, the stadium is often known as the 'Pneumonia Stadium' as a result of the freezing conditions fans and players face during matches in the winter.

The Jose Zorrilla has hosted the Spanish national team on numerous occasions and also high-profile music concerts, among them the final date of Michael Jackson's 1997 European tour.

Copa de La Liga champions

Valladolid won Spain's second knockout cup competition, the Copa de La Liga - which ran for Spain's top clubs during the 1980s - in 1984.

Winning silverware by beating Atletico Madrid in front of their own fans in the second leg of the final has gone down as one of the greatest nights in club history.