Ranieri to be unveiled at Valencia today

Claudio Ranieri will be unveiled as the coach of Spanish champions Valencia for the second time in his career this afternoon.

Ranieri, who coached Valencia in 1997-98 and steered the club to a Copa del Rey triumph over Atletico Madrid that season, was last week sacked by Chelsea despite leading the club to second place in the Premiership and into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

He was succeeded at Stamford Bridge by Jose Mourinho, who left Porto after guiding them to the Champions League.

Ranieri will replace Rafael Benitez, who led the club to the Primera Liga title and UEFA Cup glory this season, only to resign last week.

Benitez is the favourite to succeed the sacked Gerard Houllier at Liverpool.

Ranieri will be introduced to the media at 1pm local time (midday Irish time) at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium.