Valencia coach Celades welcomes former club Barcelona in clash

Saturday afternoonrsquos LaLiga Santander meeting between Valencia and Barcelona at Mestalla brings a longawaited first opportunity for Albert Celades to coach against the club he first joined over three decades agoCelades 44 has impressed in a sometimesdifficult situation during his first managerial job in LaLiga this season and now faces new Barccedila coach Quique Setien in what will be just his second game with the blaugranaBarcelonaborn Celades jointed his boyhood clubs La Masia academy aged just 13 climbing the ranks before making his LaLiga debut in El Clasico at Real Madridrsquos Santiago Bernabeu stadium in September 1995 during Johan Cruyffrsquos time as coachThe tactically intelligent midfielder went on to make 72 LaLiga appearances over four seasons as an important member of the Barccedila first team squad scoring four goals and winning the LaLiga title in 199798 and 199899He later represented RC Celta Real Madrid and Real Zaragoza winning two more LaLiga titles while at the Bernabeu before spells in France with Bordeaux and the United States with New York Red Bulls Meanwhile he won four senior caps with the Spain national team including two at World Cup 1998An intriguing aspect of Celadesrsquo playing career was the number of teammates who have gone on to coaching success after hanging up their boots These include four current LaLiga bosses Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid Oscar Garcia Celta Abelardo Fernandez Espanyol and Julen Lopetegui Sevilla Other former Camp Nou colleagues include now Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola AlSadd coach Xavi Hernandez and current Barccedila directors Guillermo Amor and Patrick KluivertCeladesrsquo own coaching career began with Spainrsquos underage international teams in 2013 and he helmed his countryrsquos Under21 side for four years from 2014 to 2018 when he first met his current Valencia charges Jose Luis Gaya and Carlos Soler He also worked as an assistant to close associate Lopetegui with both Spainrsquos senior side and Real MadridA perhaps surprise appointment by Valencia when Marcelino Garcia Toral left last September Celades has impressed hugely with both his tactical ideas and calmness under pressure His teams like to control games with their passing while he has also shown flexibility and a hard edge when requiredAlthough his first game was a difficult 52 LaLiga defeat at the Camp Nou in this weekendrsquos reverse fixture Celades soon steadied the ship at Mestalla and the team started to climb the LaLiga table to their current position of seventh Strong home form ndash four wins and two draws in their last six games ndash has been crucial to this Los Che have also progressed to the Champions League last 16 winning a group which also included Premier League side Chelsea and last yearrsquos semifinalists AjaxNew Barccedila coach Setien is not among Celadesrsquo former teammates but the two will surely have plenty to discuss when they meet at Mestalla on Saturday afternoonWatch Valencia CF vs FC Barcelona this Saturday on Facebook Watch at 830 pmCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates