Since 2009, a huge stadium ruin has stood in the northwest of Valencia. Now, construction at the Nou Mestalla is finally continuing – while the team fights against relegation in the Spanish league.
Over the past two decades, the once proud Valencia CF has fallen from grace and into chaos. In 2002 and 2004, the bats from the Costa Blanca were crowned Spanish champions, and before that – in 2000 and 2001 – they even made it to the Champions League final twice. Today, the club is fighting against the worst case scenario in La Liga. After 18 rounds, they have only two wins, but ten defeats and are therefore in penultimate place in the table. Just before Christmas, coach Rubén Baraja had to go, and now Carlos Corberán is supposed to get the team out of the fire.
In addition to the rollercoaster ride on the pitch, the club has also been fighting for financial survival. In 2010, for example, they sold their then superstars David Villa and David Silva for a combined total of almost €70 million. Fifteen years ago, that was a more than impressive sum. By then, however, they had already run out of money for the ambitious construction of a new stadium.
Taken over with stadium project
The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Nou Mestalla, as the new building in the northwest of the city is provisionally titled, took place in 2007. Currently, there is a huge concrete oval with three tiers and a multi-level underground parking garage. However, it is gray in gray, without a facade, without a lawn, without life. Less than two years after construction began, the huge mountain of debt forced the club to halt work on the new arena. Several attempts to finance the resumption were to fail – until today.
On Friday, Valencia CF announced that the excavators will finally be rolling again at the Nou Mestalla. The stadium is to be completed by 2027 and will then replace the aging Mestalla, not far from the city center, as the home of the bats. The new, state-of-the-art arena will seat 70,000 fans and is expected to take the club to new heights.
But for now, the team is fighting against relegation. The next task for the team is in Andalusia against Sevilla FC on Saturday (9 p.m.).
