Different motivation here.

Valencia is in the relegation zone, a crazy position for them. They have a squad to be at least in the TOP10, even fighting for Europe in a good season. But some really bad results lately and decisions inside the club made them to be in relegation.

They have potential to be much above, it’s a similar situation as Sevilla. They just have been unlucky with injuries (all players are fully available now), results, and the players have been mentally affected/blocked. But this international break surely has been great for them, to reset their minds and work at 100% on this match. Furthermore, with new coach Baraja the team made good performances, winning the two home games played (Osasuna and Real Sociedad) and playing very well against Barcelona (lost 1:0).

On the other hand Rayo Vallecano is playing really bad lately, due to the lck of motivation and targets. This is the same as previous years: a very strong start of the season, and when they have the chance to fight for Europe, somehow the team goes down. They are winless in the last 6 games, with poor performances and mistakes in defense (5 goals conceded in the last 2 games).

Rayo Vallecano is a team whose target was to avoid relegation and this is almost done, so it’s normal to see them playing relaxed and with less motivation. Europe is already pretty far (8 points with Villarreal and Betis playing very well lately).

This is a 50-50 game normally, but I believe that motivation will be an important factor. Valencia need points urgently, and this match will be like a final for them. They have recovered all key players from injuries (Musah, Cavani, Paulista, Lato…) and are playing at home, so they have no excuses here. Also the rival is ideal: with nothing on play and lacking motivation.

两队本场的动机不同。

瓦伦西亚处于降级区，这对他们来说是一个疯狂的位置。他们拥有一支至少能进入前十名的阵容，甚至为欧战席位而战。但是最近一些非常糟糕的结果和俱乐部内部的决定让他们濒临降级。

他们有潜力超越，这与塞维利亚的情况类似。他们只是在伤病（所有球员现在都完全可以上场）、结果和球员受到精神影响/封锁方面运气不佳。但这次国际比赛日对他们来说无疑是件好事，让他们重新调整心态，在这场比赛中投入 100% 的精力。此外，在新教练巴拉哈的带领下，球队取得了不错的成绩，赢得了两个主场比赛（奥萨苏纳和皇家社会），并且在对阵巴塞罗那（1:0 输球）时表现出色。

另一方面，由于缺乏动力和目标，巴列卡诺最近的表现非常糟糕。这和往年一样：赛季开局非常强劲，当他们有机会的时候为欧洲而战，球队不知何故倒下了。他们最近6场比赛不胜，表现不佳，防守失误（最近2场比赛丢了5球）。

巴列卡诺是一支以保级为目标的球队，而这几乎已经完成，所以看到他们踢得放松，缺乏动力是很正常的。欧战位置已经很远了（8分，比利亚雷亚尔和贝蒂斯最近表现很好）。

这通常是一场五五开的比赛，但我相信动力将是一个重要因素。瓦伦西亚急需积分，这场比赛对他们来说就像一场决赛。他们已经从伤病中恢复了所有关键球员（穆萨、卡瓦尼、保利斯塔、拉托……）并且在主场比赛，所以他们在这里没有任何借口。对手也是理想的：没有比赛并且缺乏动力。