Proud Valencia hit nadir

Miroslav Djukic looked a dead coach walking after his Valencia side’s 1-2 home defeat to La Liga’s bottom club Almeria on Wednesday.

The infamously impatient Mestalla fans were waving their familiar white hankies long before the final whistle of a third consecutive league defeat, while local sports paper ‘Superdeporte’ screamed ‘Djukic you must go’ from its cover on Thursday morning.

The Serbian manager put a brave face on things during his post-game press conference. “You feel sad for having lost,” Djukic said. “In this moment we are very weak, but I feel I have the strength to continue, to do things, although it is not all up to me. The team were not good, that is obvious, but I feel capable of getting us out of this.”