Mourinho's curse haunts Valencia: Alonso's achievement looms on the horizon
Will the Bats' struggles continue?
Real Madrid go into an eagerly awaited clash against Valencia with their sights set on continuing their winning run and cementing their place in the race for top spot. Valencia, meanwhile, are desperate to remedy a catastrophic situation and avoid prolonging the string of negative results they have endured this season.
The two sides meet tomorrow, Saturday, in round 12 of La Liga.
Valencia are in crisis. According to statistics specialists Opta, they have failed to reach 10 points in their first 11 matches in the Spanish league for the third season running. They have picked up only 9 points in the current 2026-2027 season, matching the 9 points of 2025-2026 and bettering the 7 points of 2024-2025, after reaching at least this tally in each of their previous 26 seasons in the top flight.
Los Blancos have won their last two away matches in La Liga. Yet they have not managed three or more consecutive away wins in the competition under the same manager since September 2025, when Xabi Alonso was in charge of the technical side.
Only Malaga (74 minutes) and Getafe (108 minutes) have spent fewer minutes ahead in La Liga this season than Valencia, who have led their opponents for just 109 minutes. Real Madrid lead this metric among all teams with 510 minutes, surpassed only by Barcelona, who have spent 816 minutes in front.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad are the only two teams not to have dropped any points after taking the lead. Neither has managed to earn points after falling behind in La Liga this season either.
Hugo Duro offers Valencia a glimmer of hope. The forward has scored 5 goals in 10 matches against Real Madrid in La Liga, his highest tally against any single team in the competition, level with his goals against Atletico Madrid.
Only Raphinha has scored more goals in Europe's big five leagues this season than Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, with 15 goals to the Frenchman's 12.
Mbappe has also netted 3 goals in each of his last two matches against Valencia in La Liga.
Javier Aguirre knows this fixture all too well. The Valencia manager has lost 14 of the 25 matches he has contested against Real Madrid in La Liga, against 4 wins and 7 draws, and he has not suffered more defeats against any other team in his career in the competition except Barcelona, with 19 defeats.
His opposite number tells a very different story. Jose Mourinho has not suffered a single defeat in his 6 matches against Valencia in La Liga, taking 4 wins and two draws.
Rarely has he gone seven or more matches against any other team in the competition without a loss. The exceptions are Real Sociedad, whom he has faced 7 times for 6 wins and one draw, and Espanyol, whom he has faced 7 times for 5 wins and two draws.
