Leeds United reveal LaLiga side for Elland Road pre-season friendly and Champions League reunion
Leeds United have made their first summer pre-season friendly announcement with the confirmation of a Champions League reunion with Valencia at Elland Road.
LaLiga side Valencia will travel to face Leeds on Saturday August 3 for a 3pm kick-off. The pre-season fixture is due to take place one week before the start of the Championship season, when Daniel Farke’s second attempt to lead the Whites back to the Premier League will begin in earnest.
Valencia are managed by their 48-year-old former midfielder Rubén Baraja, who played in the centre of the park when the two clubs met in a 0-0 draw at Elland Road in the Champions League back in May 2001. The 43-times capped Spanish international won LaLiga twice with Valencia as a player and lifted the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. He became manager of Los Che in February 2023 after spells in charge of, among others, Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Zaragoza. Under his care they avoided relegation in the 2022/23 season and have just missed out on European football in this campaign, finishing ninth in LaLiga. Leeds also met Valencia in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in both 1966 and 1967 and the two sides played out a 2-2 Elland Road draw in the summer of 2004.
Ticket information for the friendly and details of Leeds’ other pre-season fixtures, will be announced in due course.