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He Valencia and Barcelona will meet this Saturday at Mestalla on the first day of the League, an atypical event in the history of both clubs, who have faced each other in 89 of the 93 First Division seasons, but have only met on the first day on three occasions and the last was Diego Armando Maradona’s debut for the Blaugrana team. Kempesthe other Argentine star of the moment, was in the Valencian ranks. Hpy will relive that duel again because he has confirmed his presence at Mestalla
The last Valencia-Barcelona match to open the League was played on September 4, 1982, a match that opened the season after the World Cup organized by Spain and which marked the official debut of Argentine Diego Armando Maradona in the Blaugrana team, although, despite scoring a goal, Valencia won 2-1.
Kempes and Maradona (Photo: EFE)
The match, corresponding to the first day of the 1982-83 campaign, marked the start of club football after a summer in which Spanish stadiums had been the scene of the first and, to date, only World Cup organised by Spain, and in which Mestalla was the home of the Spanish national team during the first group stage.
This match has been played in 89 of the 93 Primera División seasons, but has only been played on the first matchday of the league on three occasions, twice at Mestalla and once at Camp Nou, in the 1959-60 campaign.
On September 4, 1982, two Argentines led both teams.
On September 4, 1982, two Argentines led both teams. On the one hand, Mario Kempes returned to Valencia after his departure to River Plate, who returned the player to the Valencian team after not being able to meet the transfer fee made a year earlier, and on the other, Maradona, who participated in his first match as a culé and scored the first goal after twenty minutes of play.
Valencia in crisis against Maradona, the world star
Valencia would end up saving their place in the league in a bizarre way on the last day of the season, beating Real Madrid 1-0 at Mestalla, in a match in which, had the Madrid team won, they would have been champions, and in other stadiums they achieved the four results they needed.
The club, which was then headed by cardiologist Vicente Tormo, had to wait for Las Palmas to lose at home to Athletic Bilbao, for Racing to fall in Madrid to Atlético and for Celta to be defeated in Valladolid. To top it all off, it was essential that the fifth match in the competition, Osasuna-Barcelona, ended with a victory for one of the two contenders, whichever it was.
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